Probation Officers

In 1841, John Augustus, a Boston bootmaker, convinced Judge Peter Oxenbridge Thatcher of Boston Police Court to release into his custody a man charged with being a common drunkard. After a 3week probationary period, the man convinced the judge that he had changed his ways and, instead of jail, received only a nominal fine. Thus was born the first probation officer and the beginnings of probation in the United States.

More than 160 years later, Augustus would probably be dumbfounded at the sheer size and scope of the U.S. probation system. As of 2002, more than 3.9 million people were under a sentence of probation in the United States, almost twice as many people as in U.S. jails and prisons (Glaze, 2003). Not only is probation the largest alternative to incarceration, it is also by far the largest segment of the U.S. correction system in terms of the number of people under supervision. Unlike the common drunkard who was the first probationer, half of everyone on probation in the United States has been convicted of a felony offense (Glaze, 2003). In some cities, such as New York, the percentage of probationers who have been convicted of felonies reaches more than 60% (New York City Office of Operations, 2004).

Probation officers perform two primary functions: investigation of those found guilty of misdemeanors or felonies and supervision of those sentenced to probation. Those under probation supervision include both adults sentenced to probation by criminal courts and juveniles placed on probation by family or juvenile courts.