Since so much of this information crosses over to what we as probation officers do, I thought I'd continue with the previous blog entry theme. Again, borrowed from PoliceOne.com
13 things about life and society cops learn from the beat
Jun 18, 2014
- A question posted recently on Quora asked, “What have you learned as a police officer about life and society that most people don't know or underestimate?” Former Police Commander Rick Bruno gave his opinion on the topic, below. Check it out and add your own thoughts in our comments section.
We see this with our probationers and their families all too often. I managed to go almost 8 years before I had someone murdered on my caseload. He was gunned down in the middle of the street. He did choose the life, but he didn't choose the end or deserve it.
It does also happen to our coworkers - and their families. I've lost one coworker to violence, a fellow probation officer, as well as too many officers from police agencies that I had worked with. If it hasn't happened to you, if you stay in this field long enough, it will.
2.) A suicide has more than one victim.
And we deal with this more directly with the population we serve than the police officers do. Although they deal with the immediate aftermath, we deal with the long term with the families and with our probationers.
And, we are in a profession that has a high rate of suicides. Law enforcement in general. I have lost several friends from agencies I worked with to this tragedy.
This is something that I will never become immune or dead to. It affects me more than just about anything. The conditions that I have seen first hand people live in with their children are appalling. The things that people expose their children to are equally atrocious. We are mandatory reporters. Use that reporting, as well as filing charges for child neglect or endangerment.
4.) The "safest" neighborhoods can be the deadliest.
Just because you feel that you aren't in the worst of neighborhoods, don't become complacent. If you were to conduct a probation search in Beverly Hills, is it really any less dangerous than Watts? Yes and no. All it takes is the actions of one person to ruin your day and that can happen anywhere. Stay frosty.
5.) Most people don't really know their neighbors.
I don't. Especially in California. There is a different attitude here about your neighbors than in many other places, especially the South. But even then, people are different when they let their public face down. We don't see our probationers the same way in the office that we would at their homes or in prison. We don't see them acting the same way as they do when they are around the police either.
6.) It is one thing to catch a person "red handed," it is quite another to convict them.
I really saw this from watching how the Court system works in the plea process and with how things are done with Pre-Sentence Reports. If you haven't done work as a representative of your department in a court room, do it. It is eye opening to how things are negotiated out. It really isn't like you see on television...
7.) The police uniform is a symbol. It is not protection. The emotions of the people you serve go right through it.
Most probation departments don't have uniforms, but the badge or jacket serve as the same symbology. We carry many of the successes and failures of our probationers. To be good at your job, you have to take things personal to some degree. When a probationer is in crisis and having a meltdown aimed at you, it is emotionally draining. When bad things happen, they can follow you into your dreams and beyond.
8.) Many, many people will never see their own situation as their own fault, when they should. They therefore miss the opportunity to heal.
This pretty much sums up why we have job security. So many of the people we supervise do not take responsibility for their own actions. It is a microcosm of the larger society as a whole, but it gets our people into legal problems that end up with quality time spent with us. Without accepting responsibility for your part in your situation, how can you move on? How can you mature? How can you learn? So many fail to do so. That is why so many probationers act like overgrown teenagers.
9.) Many Americans insist they know their rights. Some do, most do not.
People watch too much television. And listen to too many street hustlers that claim they know the law. Then they get all crossed up. People - read the Constitution if you want to know your rights. Or actually talk to a rights attorney. Do you really think you know my job better than me? Or that I am intentionally walking over your rights, thus risking my career and civil lawsuit? Just because of you? Get over yourself. You are not that important...
10.) If a person repeats something three times, he is intoxicated. ("No wait, no wait, no wait ...")
Or under the influence. Or they think that you are going to believe their lies the way that their mama does. If you haven't gotten Drug Abuse Recognition training, take the class. It will change the way you interact with people in our field.
11.) If we listened to each other we would avoid most of the problems we have with one another.
But that means that I have to stop talking. That means I have to think about someone else besides myself. That means that I have to have a grasp of the concepts of sympathy and empathy. If this was easy for the population we serve, they likely would not be on probation.
12.) Someone wants what you have, even if your only possession is a dryer box.
If you look at your case load, you will likely find someone on probation for petty theft, probably with prior petty theft arrests. Depending on what the cut off dollar amount is and the way your state laws are written, they stole something of very little value. This is often due to addiction and/or mental health issues. This is very common in our population. Then there are those that just want what you have and will use violence to take it. Their mental health issue is likely that they are sociopaths. A lot of them in our population too.
13.) There are some amazingly evil people in the world. They will hurt you just for fun, and they lack the ability to feel bad about it.
These are the worst of the sociopaths or psychopaths that we deal with. And the people that are just plain a-holes. If you stay in the profession long enough, you will deal with them. Even if you work in an area with a smaller population. They are everywhere...
Stay safe out there!
P. O. Doe
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