For the most part, we don’t put trackers on many offenders. It’s a sure giveaway that someone is on probation or parole. You see a guy with a black, bulbous band on his ankle, you know he’s being tracked and likely hazardous. Putting someone on one was expensive for the department and time consuming for... Continue Reading →

We are always told to not make an arrest alone, make sure you go with a team for safety reasons.  At the time it wasn’t policy, but if you arrested a guy by yourself and things unraveled, you’d have some explaining to do.  Steve was an excellent officer, but at times too enthusiastic. He was... Continue Reading →

Timmy was a commonly seen Parolee; a white kid in his mid twenties, but looked like he was in his fifties.  Maybe 5’6” if he stood up straight, but was was always hunched over, shrinking him to closer to 5’2”.  He was rail thin, like a skeleton wrapped in paste white, ashy skin. The only... Continue Reading →

The Youthful Offender Program (YOP) had ambitious goals. The Green Mile and I had lower, padded case numbers, but they were far from easy. We were tasked with younger adults who were almost destined for failure based on their criminal history, family and friends, and our omnipotent assessment system. In addition, they were all ages... Continue Reading →

January is National Human Trafficking Awareness Month. By human trafficking I mean prostitution, or pimping.  Prostitution seems to be a forgotten crime that somehow has become cool. Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, Jamie Lee Curtis (Trading Places), and Julia Roberts (Pretty Woman) made pimping and hooking glamorous and forgivable, a victimless crime, right? That’s not how... Continue Reading →

Recently, through interest in a development toward bigger things, I have been asked about what I do in Probation and Parole. Most don’t know. We are law enforcement agents, with the powers of arrest a lot like police officers. However, we have more authority over those already convicted of a crime. In most states we... Continue Reading →

I had the opportunity to work with all types of people in my time. From the super violent and vicious to the super weird. The weird were always the most fun. Once in a while The Green Mile and I would work with the unit specializing in the mentally ill. Before we got to our... Continue Reading →

Every city has a subdivision that is in the worst part of town, for a while I was assigned to work with that office. It was down by the docks, loaded with grizzled officers who seemed like they had seen everything. Almost every time I worked with them something wild was going on, never a... Continue Reading →

When I was working with the night detective team, they would always want to go to search some of my more active probationers.  This was defined by the odds of finding some sort of illegal activity and therefore some action.  One of my go to guys was Jay.  Jay was a known street gang member... Continue Reading →