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.
This was done, and about
2:20 a.m. the woman again
had her purse In hand and
' resumed her trip, thanks to
. some southern Oregon po
lice officers who were will
ing to- do just a little bit
- more than their jobs called
for.
w
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