Safety Of Probation Officers Questioned In SCC Grand Jury Report

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, CA — A Santa Cruz County civil grand jury report released Tuesday finds the county's deputy probation officers don't feel safe out in the field working with high-risk offenders. According to the report, armed law enforcement is not always available to accompany the probation officers when they meet with these high-risk individuals. The result is fewer field visits and increased safety risks for unarmed probation officers, the report found.

Moderate- to high-risk offenders are required to meet with parole officers in the field. Moderate-risk offenders make up 30.8 percent of the probation department's caseload, while 33.3 percent of the caseload is high-risk offenders.

The Probation Officers Association has been vocal with the county's probation department and board of supervisors about its safety concerns: “We call for the County of Santa Cruz to adopt full measures of safety for our deputy probation officers to promote values of life and to preserve the integrity of community supervision. Absent of these considerations we request the County of Santa Cruz Probation Department suspend all mandated field contacts.”

Current County of Santa Cruz Probation Department protocol calls for deputy probation officers to be unarmed, according to the report. Many probation officers, however, disagree with this rule, the report found. "Witnesses acknowledged to the grand jury that not all DPOs want to be armed, nor do the witnesses think that they should be. They do believe that DPOs who supervise

high-risk offenders want to be armed and, [if they're ] are willing to adhere to training standards,
should have the option to be armed," the report read.

In a recent survey by the Santa Cruz County Probation Officers' Association, 95 percent of probation officers agree there should be an armed unit within the county's probation department, the report found.

spray, identifiable clothing, and Narcan) for their field visits. It also found that the probation department should coordinate with local law enforcement to develop policies and procedures for armed law enforcement to accompany probation officers during field visits. The report also called for a study to determine the potential harm to unarmed probation officers doing field work with high-risk offenders, "with a focus on developing an armed unit."

The county has 90 days to respond to the grand jury report.