Absconding

The term absconding is used to describe the behavior of someone who is in hiding to avoid arrest. In community corrections, absconding refers to the conduct of a person who, while under probation or parole supervision, fails to comply with the requirement to report periodically and otherwise maintain contact with the supervising agency. An offender who fails to report in person to the agency office as directed, who is no longer residing at his or her approved residence, and whose whereabouts are unknown is declared an absconder. Of the more than 5 million persons on community supervision (about 85 percent of whom are on probation), there are an estimated 250,000 probation absconders and about 55,000 parole absconders.

A person under community supervision signs an agreement requiring him or her to report periodically—usually once a week at first and subsequently less often when he or she appears to be conforming to supervision requirements. During the office report, the community supervision officer has an opportunity to discuss the offender's progress, his or her employment situation, and any substance abuse problems, as well as to make referrals and to provide advice and counseling.

The failure to locate and arrest absconders expeditiously poses a potential danger to the community and encourages other probationers and parolees to follow their example. In addition to no longer being monitored (checked for drug usage, for example), absconders have difficulty gaining lawful employment.

When a probationer or parolee fails to report as required, the supervising officer will attempt to contact him or her by telephone or a visit to the offender's residence or place of employment. If the officer confirms that the offender is no longer residing at his or her approved residence and the offender's whereabouts are unknown, a violation of probation/parole warrant will be issued. The enforcement of this warrant varies from agency to agency.

Incidents of probationers or parolees failing to report to their parole officer as scheduled will result in the officer visiting the offender's residence and/or place of employment.

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Some agencies rely on the police or sheriff to search for absconders; others employ warrant officers to carry out this task. Because police agencies in many jurisdictions, particularly in high-crime urban areas, have other priorities, they may be unwilling or unable to provide sufficient warrant enforcement services, so it is unlikely that anyone will actually pursue an absconder, and the warrant is likely to remain dormant until he or she is arrested for a new crime.

Thus, if the community supervision agency does not enforce its own warrants, they often go unattended; the potential danger to the public is obvious, as hundreds (or in larger jurisdictions, thousands) of probation and parole warrants go unenforced. Warrants turned over to outside law-enforcement agencies are occasionally used to coerce absconders into becoming informants, and community supervision agencies usually have rules against using their clients as informants because it would require them to associate with known criminals in violation of the rules of probation and parole.

Some community supervision agencies have a unit of specially trained probation or parole officers who search for absconders and who may also have other responsibilities, such as conducting surveillances or accompanying officers on field visits to high-risk offenders or to high-crime areas. The Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole's Fugitive Apprehension Search Team and the New York State Division of Parole's Absconder Search Unit receive cases in which the supervising agent or officer has been unsuccessful in locating the offender. Unit members work full time searching for and arresting absconders, and their expertise results in a high degree of success. These specialized units also develop a close working relationship with other law-enforcement agencies, enhancing community safety through the discovery of evidence of new criminal behavior.

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