NCJ Number
178533
Journal
Penological Information Bulletin Issue: 21 Dated: December 1998 Pages: 3-20
Date Published
1998
Length
18 pages
Annotation
The Probation Service in England and Wales is experiencing major changes in its delivery of services to the criminal justice system and is faced with competing challenges, opportunities, and dangers.
Abstract
The primary duty of the Probation Service is to increase public protection from crime by controlling the incidence of crime committed by offenders on probation. Other tasks of the Probation Service include reducing unnecessary remands in custody through pretrial work; resettling released prisoners into the community as law-abiding citizens; and writing pre-sentence reports that assess offense seriousness, risk of further offending, and risk management issues for courts at all levels. The author highlights the history of the Probation Service, efforts to improve the quality of the Probation Service, program and management initiatives, the increasing use of community service orders and partnerships between the Probation Service and a wide range of private and voluntary organizations, information technology developments, electronic monitoring of offenders, and the work of the Probation Service with victims. 12 references