What are the issues?

I had this link forwarded to me from a friend who works there:

http://www.ebcitizen.com/2016/02/alameda-county-supervisors-to-replace.html?m=1

All I can say is wow.  It's not so much the article as it is the comments that follow.  Last time I looked there were more than 50 and they are not pretty.  Not sure how much is true, but I do subscribe to the belief that where there is smoke, there is fire...

I hope none of you work there!!  But if you do, either pm me or comment on your perspective.


P. O. Doe

#probation
#probationuncovered
Twitter - @PODoe2015
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/probationuncovered/
Email - probationuncovered@gmail.com

Life changing words of advice

People on Reddit were asked: "What is something someone said that forever changed your way of thinking?" Here are some of the best responses. 

---

1. "You know you're an adult when you can be right without proving the other person wrong."

Ocktick

2. "Next year, you'll wish you had started today."

trytryagainn

3. My mom was dying. A friend told me "you have your whole life to freak out about this-- don't do it in front of her. "

It really helped me to understand that my feelings are not always what's important. It IS possible to delay a freakout, and that skill has served me innumerable times.

DiffidentDissident

4. I was 13 years old, trying to teach my 6 year old sister how to dive into a swimming pool from the side of the pool. We were at a big, public pool, and nearby there was a woman, about 75 years old, slowly swimming laps. Finally she swam over to us just when I was really putting the pressure on, trying to get my sister to try the dive, and my sister was shouting, "but I'm afraid!! I'm so afraid!!" The old woman looked at my sister, raised her fist defiantly in the air and said, "So be afraid! And then do it anyway!"

loubird12500

5. "You are not required to set yourself on fire to keep other people warm".

maeEast

6. I was sitting in a bus once, and we came to the railroad tracks. There were some cars sitting inbetween us and the next red light, so if a train came, we'd be stuck until it had passed. That was always a couple of annoying minutes.

Then the light turned green, and the bus went across the train tracks without having to wait for a train. Pheew, crisis averted. Then, behind me, a mother said to her small child:

"That was too bad, we didn't get to see the train today."

That was the perfect way to frame that. Why not enjoy what you get?

AF79

7. "Do it to do it, not to have done it."

corneliusthedog

 

8. I'm the oldest of three kids. I'm older than my little brother by 2.5 years and my little sister by 9.5. When I was about fourteen or so, arguing with my dad in private about something I don't remember, he, being the second-oldest of eight kids, told me:

"Any decision you make in this household, you make three times. Once when you make it, once when your brother makes the same decision after watching you do it, and once when your sister makes the same decision after watching you and your brother do it. How you treat your brother will tell him how he can treat your sister; and how you treat your sister tells her how she will expect to be treated for the rest of her life, even as far as her future boyfriends."

That kinda shook me up and made me rethink my role as the oldest child; I started taking my responsibilities as the role model a lot more seriously after that.

Mutericator

9. "Isn't it funny how day by day nothing changes but, when we look back everything is different..." - C.S Lewis

-DgAr-

10. "I learned to give... not because I have too much. But because I know how it feels to have nothing."

yours_duly

11. My old boss, the CEO of a small hospital, told me a story from back when he was a lab technician (for simplicity, let's call him Dan). Dan had forgotten to check some sort of mechanism on a piece of equipment he used, it malfunctioned and broke the equipment which ended up having around a $250,000 repair bill. The next day Dan's boss called him in to talk about it, and he was sure he was going to be fired. His boss asked him why he didn't do a proper check, made sure he understood what happened and sent him back to work. Dan asked him "Am I not getting fired? I was almost sure that's what this was about." His boss said "No way, I just spent $250,000 teaching you a lesson you'll never forget. Why would I fire you now?"

It seems silly, but that attitude always resonated with me. Don't make professional decisions based on emotional responses. Always know what your goal is when dealing with someone, and what exact problem you are trying to solve. Everyone makes mistakes, and yelling at them just makes them resent you and become defensive. Being calm and understanding will make people look up to you.

Toribor

12. "If you're scared of doing it because you're afraid that people will judge you, trust me they won't even remember it after a year."

Fafafee

13. "A fool thinks himself to be a wise man, a wise man knows himself to be a fool."

TheYellowKingg

14. I was having a bad day one time and being all "Why me?" when a coworker said "Why not you?". I had never thought about it before, but it was a good point. So I shut up and got over it.

SirRogers

 

15. "There's no point trying to track down your SO when they go out, or even asking them not to go, just because you're afraid of being cheated on. If they want to cheat on you, they will. They will miss a day of work, or lie about visiting their parents, or even fake a medical appointment. There's nothing you can do about that. The only thing you can do, is being a loving, caring person. This is the most effective way of obtaining someones love and trust."

hank_moo_d

16. "The person that you will spend the most time with in your life is yourself, so try to make yourself as interesting as possible. "

PM_ME_WALLPAPERS

17. "We judge others by their actions and ourselves on our intentions." Really made me think about people and I try telling myself that when the fucking idiot in front on me doesn't indicate when merging.

Rex--Banner

18. When I was 38 I contemplated beginning a two year Associates Degree in Radiography. I was talking to a friend and had almost talked myself out of doing it. I said "I'm too old to start that. I'll be 40 when I get my degree." My friend said "If you don't do it, you'll still be 40, but without the degree." I'm nearly 60 now, and that degree has been the difference between making a decent living, and struggling to get by.

luckyhenry

19. I met a person who was in a wheelchair. He related a story about how a person once asked if it was difficult to be confined to a wheelchair. He responded, "I'm not confined to my wheelchair - I am liberated by it. If it wasn't for my wheelchair, I would be bed-bound and never able to leave my room or house. "

RedheadBanshee

20. "Education is expensive, but no education is more expensive". Definitely took school more seriously after someone said that to me.

vforviolet

21. "Everyone you meet knows something you don't." My grandfather told me this, and it's been a good reminder that I am surrounded by teachers.

maelfey

P. O. Doe

 #probation
 #probationuncovered

Twitter - @PODoe2015
 Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/probationuncovered/
 Email - probationuncovered@gmail.com

Probation officer recognized with award for off-duty action

Great read about positive work off duty from a San Diego County, California, Probation Officer.


http://www.countynewscenter.com/news/probation-officer-awarded-duty-bravery




P. O. Doe


 #probation
 #probationuncovered

 Twitter - @PODoe2015
 Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/probationuncovered/
 Email - probationuncovered@gmail.com

What will 2016 bring you?

So that is the big question on this first working day of the year 2016.  What will the year bring you?  

I am working on finding more satisfaction.  I know that I fight with finding job satisfaction.  Some of my positions have been more satisfying than others.  More rewarding.  Some positions it is easier to see that you are making a difference.  Some are very frustrating.  That is part of the job.  You can not save everyone with a rose colored glasses outlook of what "saved" means.  I have to not necessarily adjust my expectations, but redefine what making a difference looks like.  Especially when working in the juvenile world.  Most of these kids don't have the advantages that you had, even if you grew up poor or in a broken home (or both) or any of a hundred other less than desirable conditions.  Remember that even though the squeaky wheel gets the most grease, there are many others on your case load in need.  And helping, making a difference, can be just as simple as being kind.  As listening instead of directing.  As advocating for that person. 

I will find that increased job satisfaction this year by letting myself find the good. 


What will you do?


P. O. Doe




#probation
#probationuncovered


Twitter - @PODoe2015
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/probationuncovered/
Email - probationuncovered@gmail.com

Holiday observations with juveniles and the system

Not so much the adults, but the kids seem to get it.  Don't get arrested just before a holiday.  Especially Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years.  You will sit even longer before you get to Court.  There is much less Juvenile intake activity during the week preceding each of these holidays.  With adults, the arrests actually seem to pick up.  Perhaps trying harder to sell or steal for that extra cash to make the holiday special? 

Who really wants to spend the holidays in jail...?




P. O. Doe

#probation
#probationuncovered

Twitter - @PODoe2015
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/probationuncovered/
Email - probationuncovered@gmail.com

Need a Christmas gift for the Probation Officer in your family?

Pre-release for my latest book "Sustained! Probation Internal Affairs Investigations and Your Rights" is now available on pre-release.  The release date is set for 12/15/15. 

"Internal affairs evokes a visceral reaction of fear in most probation officers and most law enforcement in general. The best way to reduce this fear is to educate yourself as to the process and your rights in that process. This book offers a look at what an internal affairs process should look like, what your rights are broken down for each state and gives first hand advice from officers who have been through the process."

 http://amzn.com/B018UR2MG4


Pre-order your copy now!!

P. O. Doe

#probation
#probationuncovered

Twitter - @PODoe2015
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/probationuncovered/
Email - probationuncovered@gmail.com

Excerpt from The Killing Frenzy - Profiling Mass Murder

You think that mass murder is a new thing? Or that it isn't new, but it's getting worse?  It is getting worse, but it has been going for 1000's of years.  The Malaysians called it Amok.  The Vikings called it Berserker.

"Prior to 1949, mass murder only occasionally made headlines.  Only after 1949, with the actions of Howard Unruh who killed thirteen people on a gun-wielding rampage, did mass murder begin to gain the notoriety of today.  It was not sensationalized as it is in the modern press.   A review of the literature finds eleven documented occurrences from the 1400’s to 1949.  These eleven include:  Vlad the Impaler, the 1450s Romanian ruler who ordered the impalement of 500 murders on one occasion and 1000 on another; Jean-Baptiste Troppman, who in 1869 killed the eight members of his business partner’s family, including the partner, for the partner’s fortune; Floyd and Claude Allen, a father and son pair who were upset with the 1912 Virginia court decision against father Floyd for his assault on a police officer and began shooting, killing five; John D. Lee, who in Utah in 1857 led a group of horsemen and acted as rescuer to a group of settlers being attacked by Indians, but then turned on the settlers killing 123 of them; James Carroll, who in Canada in 1880, led a group of extremist Catholic vigilantes who killed four members of a family over a racial disagreement; William Gouldstone of London, who in 1883 murdered all five of his young children because the burden of too many children overwhelmed him; Edgar Edwards of London, who in 1903 killed a family of three so he could profit from selling their furniture; Carl Panzram, though a notorious serial killer, did shoot in the back six native porters in the Belgian Congo around 1922 and fed them to the crocodiles; Andrew Kehoe, who in Michigan in 1927 killed 45 when he planted a bomb under the school where he had been a school board member and treasurer; and, Eric George Graham of New Zealand, who in 1941, started his rampage by killing four police officers who came to talk to the failed dairy farmer about his unstable behavior.  He also killed two passersby who stopped to help.

The era of the modern mass murder is recognized to begin in 1949 with the actions of Howard Unruh.  Unruh killed thirteen people in twelve minutes on a shooting rampage before returning to his home and waiting for the police.  It was his actions that seemed to mark a new era in murder, as there was an increase in public awareness of the action of mass murder.  It gained public recognition.   Police reaction to the phenomena of mass murder did not occur until seventeen years later.  The public shock of the actions of Richard Speck in 1966, who killed eight nurses, and Charles Whitman who killed his wife, mother, and thirteen others from the clock tower on the University of Texas at Austin campus brought tremendous press coverage causing political pressure which ushered in the age of police SWAT teams.

Since the beginning of this modern era of mass murder, more information and documentation is available in the study of mass murder.   “The Mass Murder Hit List” compiles the names and a brief description of the scenarios of 208 incidents of mass murder around the globe since 1949.  Another list has 55 murders from 1949 to 1991 in their review of those occurring in the United States alone.  Since the Columbine school murders in 1999, there have been a sharp uptake of mass murder.  The 2014 FBI study indicates that there have been 160 mass shootings from 2000 to 2013, with 64 of the 160 mass shootings resulting in the death of three or more victims."


The Killing Frenzy: Profiling Mass Murder
http://amzn.com/B0163JZG0U



Thanks!
P. O. Doe

#probation
#probationuncovered

 Twitter - @PODoe2015
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/probationuncovered/
Email - probationuncovered@gmail.com