Probation Officer

Probation officers work to rehabilitate offenders by: Enforcing the conditions of court orders and release licenses, conducting offender risk assessments in order to protect the public, ensuring offenders' awareness of the impact of their crime on their victims and the public.

Each year, probation officers supervise around two lakhs twenty five thousand offenders. They make assessments to advice courts, manage and enforce community orders, and work with prisoners during and after sentencing.

Probation officers interact with offenders, victims, police and prison colleagues on a regular basis. They also work closely with: local authorities, housing department’s range of independent and voluntary sector partners.

Tasks typically involve: providing pre-sentence reports on people charged with an offence, which help magistrates and judges to decide on what sentence should be passed managing and enforcing community orders made by the courts, which may involve participation in group programs, ensuring offenders attend supervision with a probation officer, and/or ensuring offenders undertake unpaid work that benefits the community.

Delivering specialist programmers’ to change offenders' attitudes and behavior in order to help reduce further offending, providing specialist reports to prison governors and parole review boards that help determine whether a prisoner should be released and undertaking meticulous record keeping and review processe.

Working with prisoners during and after sentence, helping them to reintegrate into the community, liaising with victims of serious crime to keep them informed about a prisoner's progress in prison, gathering feedback from the victim(s) about the impact of the offence and any fears and concerns about the proposed release of the prisoner; managing approved premises, provide accommodation for people on bail or probation, or offenders on parole.