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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (May 14, 1961)
SUNDAY. MAY 14. 1961 MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE. MEDFORD. OREGON Successful Probation Program foriianffls an Arson's Desir? Br JOE COWLEY Mail Tribune Staff Wrlltr A successful probation pro gram stemi from a sincere de- aire .within each person to make good, John Darby, area parole and probation adminis trator, said last week. "Probation does not mean leniency," Darby pointed out. "It's a clearly defined pro gram covering each Individ' ual placed under our depart- ' ment s supervised program, They receive guidance and counseling so they may gain . an Insight Into their personal problems," he explained "The key to the program is the hard-working district pa role and probation officer," he noted. , . . Key To Program 1 From the standpoint of the courts, the key to the pro- ' gram is selectivity. Each judge must carefully sift through material presented him in re quested pre-sentence reports on each man's background They must then weigh and evaluate these facts to see if ' the man would make a good probation risk. ' Granting probation Is con sidered from the welfare of both the individual and gen eral society. Darby said, "Many people confuse the terms parole and probation Probation is a judicial act stemming ' from the courts which suspend a sentence pending good behaviour. The judge is the only person wno can take the probation away from an Individual. '"Parole is an executive act, It originates with the parole board. A person on parole has spent part of his sentence in a penal institution like the state penitentiary, the Oregon Correctional Institution, or a county jail," Darby said. Important Social Agencrt j Darby is a big Irishman and looks like a prize-fighter. His soft, deliberate speech and thoughtful manner seem to contradict this. As admlnls-' trator for the regional parole anS probation office, he is a director of what is becoming an increasingly Important so cial agency. His office supervises the ac tivities of a district supervisor and eight lieldmen. They in turn keen constant supervi sion over nearly 500 men and women on probation or parole In Lake. Klamath. Jackson, Josephine, Douglas, Coos and Curry counties, Darby's office is one of four such regional offices In the state. Others are located at Pendleton, Portland and Salem. Salem has the central parole and probation office. H. M. Randall is state-wiae director.. The regional offices are further subdivided into district offices. Too often the parole and probation officer is character ized as a tough, hard-boiled person who is just waiting for the parolee, or probationer to slip so he can push him into prison. Formar Occupations This is not rue. The staff ' of the state board of parole and' probation,' for instance, may consist of a wide cross section of former occupations such as school teachers, social workers, and policemen,, to mention a few. They are schooled In modern ap proaches and treatment tech niques. These men refer to their charges as "clients." They use unmarked cars when calling on them, and are careful not to approach their clients when other than the Immediate fam ily is around. The goal of the parole and probation officer is to get his assigned case-load through their respective pro grams and to prevent further crimes against the commun- . ity. Like the early-day FBI gents, they never carry guns. Often exposed to certain phys ical dangers, they are capable of handling themselves In tight situations. Referring back to his ex planation of probation, Darby emphasized that the Jackson county courts all "do a gener ally excellent job" in deciding who should or should not be on probation. In fact, this Is - the rule for southern Oregon courts, he added. "Most of our probationers are a social problem rather than a true criminal prob lem," Darby continued. "They may be socially disorganized. Immature and emotionally maladjusted In many areas of their community living. We call on all the community agencies and resources to aid In this. It's everyone's respon sibility to help rehabilitate the community's offenders." t What happens when a man goes on probation? Often the probation officer takes charge of the proba tioner, usually at the county jail, and brings him to the local office.' Then he Is as signed a probation officer. All records and the resulting In terview! are kept confiden tial. "'...''' "It's Important for us to get to know each individual's lim itations to get a personality profile to learn how he may react under specific condl tions. We explain the condi- tions of his supervision "These conditions of proba tion are not for punishment, They serve merely as a guide and are conducive to average living, the regional super visor explained. "Probation is a two-edged knife. It cuts for the individual and for the community." "While a man is on proba tlon he is contacted in his home and he reports to the parole and probation office. If the probation office places a man in a job the officer will confer with the employer too. Otherwise, he Is not inter fered with while on the job. In most cases employers are understanding and helpful. ''There is a terrific emotion al aspect to probation. It's not just one person we all have tp deal with. We also consider mothers, wives, children and various members of the fam ily who usually suffer the most from the misdeeds of the offender. All these people help the probationer to become re established in his community and assume his responsibil ities as a good citizen, hus band and father, he said Darby explained that pro bationers are treated as indi viduals. The strong and weak point of each are considered and the probation program shaped to fit. Some individu als with a comparatively low intelligence undergo a more Intensive program. This re quires, constant reviewing on basic points, the need to com plete a successful probation period and be a useful citizen. "We don't expect the same degree of success from every one. But each man must help himself. He must be willing to pull himself up. We can't work with a man who sits back, folds his arms and seems to say -mane mei Straighten me outl' " Darby noted. This is more .than just a job to the probation officer. He puts in as a rule extremely long hours. He wants his cli ents to make good. This type of service is not motivated from just' a job standpoint," Darby said. - . ' How successful is this pro gram? Official figures show 85 per cent of the probationers suc cessfully complete their pro bation periods. Many of the IS per cent who fail default on technical violations, they fail to follow 'the terms of their probation and choose not to respond to the probation officers counsel. No Official Figures NO official figures are avail able on how many again be come a threat to the commun ity and are returned to court for sentencing, but Darby feels the. total is relatively small. " - To the taxpayer this means considerable saving. It costs about $1,400 a year to keep a man in a penitentiary. Su pervision costs are about $200 a year per individual. 'And remember this," Dar by declared, "only the parole and probation failures make the headlines. We can t tell about our successes, the citi zens who have returned to their rightful . places i in the community. Even though we would like to shout them from the house-tops." ; Southern Oregon Police Officers Help Washingtonian With Problem - Picture yourself in this predicament:.. You and your four chil dren are driving from the state of Washington to California. It is late at . night. You have just pulled up to the California Fruit Inspection station, and sud denly, discover that you have lost your wallet or purse,' containing all your money and gasoline credit cards. ; You haven't the slightest idea where you lost it you aren't even sure in what town you lost it. . v You have no money for gas . or lodging. You are hundreds of miles away from the nearest friend or relative. Where do you turn? -Where can you turn? Mrs. Blllie Dott William son of Seattle, Wash., found herself In this predica ment Wednesday night, and he turned to the Medford police department for help. She picked a busy night, but they didn't let her down. . Mrs. Williamson walked into the police station about 9:30 p.m. and said that an hour earlier she had dis covered at the California state line that her purse was missing. She was near ly out of gas and was desperate. She said she thought she lost the purse at a gas sta tion in Medford, but after looking around the city, she couldn't be sure. Police determined that the woman had probably lost the purse in Grants Pass, rather than Medford, but 'the woman hadn't enough gas left to get there. Neither could the woman remember what kind of gas "station it was, since she had stopped only to let her chil dren go to the restroom. Medford police, who are often accused of being heartless, bent a sympa thetic ear, and the night desk officer got on the po - lice teletype and asked thet Grants Pass police depart-' , ment to check with the fill ing stations in their city to , see If the purse had been left at any one of them. Grants Pass police obliged and not only contacted the open ones, but when they found nothing at these, they also contacted several closed filling stations, in some cases getting the op erators out of bed. Finally they found the right one, a Richfield sta- '. tion. Sure enough, the purse was there, with all the money 'and credit cards " intact. Grants Pass police advised Medford police that they had it, and want ed to know what to do with it. Medford police then called state police : and again related the woman's story. State - police too, were sympathetic to the situation and agreed to have one of their officers pick up the purse in Grants Pass and return it to the .woman in Medford. 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