Probation: Heading in New Directions (From Visions for Change: Crime and Justice in the Twenty-First Century, P 172-183, Roslyn Muraskin and Albert R. Roberts, eds. - see NCJ-158451)

• NCJ Number: 158463
• Author(s): L Scott
• Date Published: 1996
• Length: 12 pages
• Sale Source: Prentice-Hall, Inc
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article explores how new technologies will allow probation agencies to expand community-based intervention programs and effectively supervise even high-risk offenders.

Abstract

Criminal justice experts predict that technology and specialization will make community corrections safer, increasingly innovative, and cost-effective alternatives to incarceration. The Maricopa County (Arizona) probation department is moving toward complete automation of its information system. Field officers will use notebook computers to add information to the database, and the data will produce the numbers and information needed by the department's planning and program division. The department has created a number of programs in which probationers can be supervised in different ways. Some of these alternatives include literacy centers, a drug court, programs for the mentally ill, and a day reporting center; additional intermediate sanctions include day fines, restitution, community service, intensive probation, and risk assessments. 8 references