Has anyone been on probation before?

[NVP]

I'm finding it extremely intrusive and I'm wondering if my experience is unique or this is typical.

They try to intrude on areas completely unrelated to the conviction, assume the worst about all aspects of your life, and continually talk down to you when they clearly don't understand the points you make.

I've got more important things to do with my time and energy than placate ignorance (except on this forum, of course ).


Has anyone here been subject to probation, how did you find it?



Edit: Before anyone asks, I don't really want to get into the details of the conviction or sentence on here. Just looking for anyone with a similar experience to see if this is consistent within the service.

 

[NVP]

My guess is the number of people that have been on probation on this forum will be very small. I mean most of them will be computer geeks & nerds :O

Worth a try My friends are no help. It doesn't seem like they paid much attention or have sufficient recall, which I guess is understandable.

Op did you have to sign a "register"

Definitely not!

 

[NVP]

I didn't find it bad at all for the ~15 months or so, was generally a once a month face to face that lasted ~5 minutes for the first 6 months, then a phone call check in for the rest. There was some absolute nonsense paperwork involved though.

I guess it very much depends on the crime/attitude of the officer though.

Can always chat via Trust if you want a better conversation about it.

Thank you. My first two have been over an hour, no paperwork (but that could be covid related), and extremely intrusive about all aspects of my life. Did yours involve questions solely around the conviction? If not, how intrusive did they get for requests about details?

Thanks for replying

 

[NVP]

You got done for knife carrying no?

My view is if you’re carrying a knife, I suspect you’re up to no good in other areas as well and probation are fair to look at that.

It's best not to assume.

 

[NVP]

It's tricky as mine was generally a continuation of what started within a big boxy building i called home for a while, so my "on the outside" experience may differ to yours. I recall the first was a longer session though as it was based around release.

I don't recall it being overly intrusive though, maybe some questions around family support etc. The main paperwork was very generic talking around the victim and empathy and stuff like that, but it wasn't really relevant unless you'd committed violence/burglary.

Thank you. That's interesting, perhaps they are going through new paperwork with me like a checklist? I'm being asked extremely personal things such as my care for my children, my relationship with my wife, my work, my friends, my finances/assets, my day to day activities etc. All completely unrelated to my conviction and something I do not wish to discuss with a stranger.

 

[NVP]

I worked in Probation for 15 years - not front line, but have a fair bit of experience of much of the work.

It is a very intrusive process. Ultimately, the staff working your case are responsible for reducing the risk of you committing further offences. What you get out of it and how they plan to achieve that really depends on what you've been convicted of.

I always remember a very experienced officer, on the day of retiring telling me after 40 years in the field he'd come to the conclusion that his whole career was a waste of time. People don't change. Or moreover - you can't change people. It's partly why so much focus at the time was around working with young families and trying to prevent people getting into crime in the first place.

Thank you. I feel it too intrusive, personal and completely unwarranted.

To expand, and to also answer Dowie - I had my car searched and was found with a collection of souvenir knives in my car, which I had placed there to avoid my young children finding in my drawers now that they have started walking, and was going to drop them at my parents home when I next visited. Unfortunately it appears that was a criminal offence and was charged with each item.

This will be so that the person working your case can complete an OASys.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offender_Assessment_System

Thank you for that, makes a bit more sense now but I don't understand why they are being so personal as it feels quite beyond any normal or logical scope.

Maybe it's different due to the nature of your crime, there may be more "safety" related issues i guess.

Perhaps, it just doesn't make any logical sense to me with how much personal detail they wish for me to divulge. Thank you for answering, it is appreciated.

 

[NVP]

No worries, to be fair it's a few years ago now and so my memory of things may be different to how they actually were. I also don't generally bother about privacy in any way shape or form, so perhaps just didn't take the same issue with intrusive questions as you.

Hopefully you can move past the whole thing quickly and easily enough without it disrupting too much.

Ah I see, typical/general questions I would have no real concern with, but the amount of detail requested and persistent questioning on family etc. I find way too intrusive to divulge to a stranger, especially one with attitude.

Thank you, yes I hope so but it will be on-going for quite some time. They did mention that it would change to monthly at some point, I'm unsure of when that would be. Thanks for the info, your replies are appreciated.

And you were only wearing a balaclava because it was cold and you had stopped outside the bank to ask for directions.

Hahaha

 

[NVP]

If they come to the conclusion that this was just a bit of a mix up and realise you're not actually a psychopath about to go on a killing spree - then they'll shift a lot of their focus onto more pressing cases.

Unfortunately, most Serious Further Offences come from low tiers. So you'll have to figive them for being overly intrusive and cautious.

Hmmm... I guess that would make sense for some of their questions, thank you. I still feel the majority of their focus is extremely personal and nothing remotely to do with intent or behaviour. Perhaps I've just been lumped with a numpty? Thanks for replying.

 

[NVP]

bahahahah what did you do?

Something extremely heinous and nefarious.

Can you not sue them for distress in this day and age?

I don't feel that necessary, I just wish for them to leave my personal life to myself.

It's 25 years since I had anything to do with the Buckinghamshire Probation Service (as I think it was back then). I used to look after their computers. But they absolutely wanted people off the criminal circuit. And they were hugely over-worked.

You should write to the head of the probation department expressing your concerns. Your calls with the probation officer are recorded, aren't they? Don't be defiant, don't explicitly complain, just say you don't understand why X, Y, and Z are necessary and they feel unnecessarily intrusive. Probation officers are human.

Thank you very much for this, I will do exactly that. Thank you

 

[NVP]

 

[NVP]

Insightful, thank you.

 

[NVP]

Thanks, but I can't see it doing any real harm yet potentially may get me assigned to someone else or at least explain the reasoning behind it. Not really in my personality to just roll over for something I feel strongly against. Fingers crossed, hey

 

[NVP]

If your complaint is that your Offender Manager is asking too many personal questions, then I think you might misunderstand the situation.

You've been convicted of a crime and are now serving your punishment. You're not supposed to like it. Determining if you're a risk by looking into your private life IS their business.

Complaining to the Chief Officer about it is utterly ridiculous. The Chief has other things to be concerned about and your letter will never see their desk. If you must escalate, try the local Senior. But the senior would be more concerned if their officer hadn't asked these questions.

It's a bit more than simply asking general questions or being inquisitive about my nature to determine reoffending risk, otherwise I wouldn't be so perplexed by it all. Can't harm in voicing my concerns, as I said it could simply end in an explanation for my appeasement. And thanks for your advise

Don't stab the guy. He's just doing his job.

 

[NVP]

I had a friend who was. I will tell you the story...

It is mad, isn't? The way the mentally ill and addicts were failed by the justice system. Fortunately nowadays I think they have a better understanding and more compassion to attempt some help/psychotherapy/rehab, so steps are being made in the right direction.

I get you're being vague, but are you over exaggerating the extremely personal bit.

I don't think I am, they're too personal for me to mention here publicly. I get how not mentioning specifics it could just be seen as me having a moan, but I assure you I am a more than reasonable person yet find them to be unnecessary.

So you were done for carrying knives? You should be rotting in a cell for the next decade imo. Answer their questions and stop being such a prat

LOL

 

[NVP]

We've seen no evidence the OP even acknowledges they did wrong

Regarding the knives, I see no issue with what I did except for bringing them into the UK during my teens when I was unaware of their legality - the drugs on the other hand...

Damn, that's a bit unlucky. Were they obviously souvenir knives, like clearly some antiques from different places or different ornate designs etc... I wonder if having them in a display case would have changed anything there?

Like, on one hand, I'm quite keen on people carrying knives getting punished, on the other hand there are obvious exceptions like when you have a reason to be carrying a knife - a tradesman using one for work etc...

Did you talk to the police before you had a solicitor present out of interest? Like at the point where they searched your car? I mean the obvious defence here I presume would be if you actually were transporting them to your parent's house, but if you've told them you're storing them in your car and just driving around with them then that might not be so good. This is where not talking to the police becomes useful, lots of people essentially end up self-incriminating when in a situation where keeping quiet and waiting for a solicitor could make a big difference even if you think you're just being helpful or haven't done anything wrong at the time.

Yeh they were blatantly souvenirs, one literally had 'Alaska' on the side and another was shaped like a shotgun with a torch on top, however I freely admit they were not UK legal but they had been stored away for the past 20 odd years so didn't think much of it other than removing them from my house so my kids couldn't find them.

Regarding any words with the police, I told them straight away that the knives were there and told them why at the point of search, back in the station and at court. Unfortunately knives are a hot topic with the system at the moment, understandably, so they had to do what they had to do.

 

[NVP]

Why did you get pulled and why did they search your car, OP? Asking for a friend.

I wasn't pulled over. I was in a lay-by on my phone when 3 police cars pulled up besides and behind me. They said I'd been reported as "suspicious" by a passing off-duty from a different force.

 

[NVP]

That man sounds white. Pretty sure OP is not white.

OP is not, and neither was the Magistrate.