News-Record.com

I think more than an investigation into the state's probation system is in order - a thorough investigation into the hiring practices by the state need to happen.

When you have criminals watching over criminals, it's kind of like asking a fat kid to watch the cookie jar.

No one knows if the 2 murders would never have happened if this kid had a qualified probation officer; but I know I certainly wouldn't want that on my conscience the rest of my life.

This is just sad.

Why do you think supervision and probation was necessary in the first place?
I'm betting these two POS are both products of our welfare state - do you think either of them ever earned so much as one paycheck? Do you think the parents or adults responsible for these two ever earned enuf to provide necessities for these two or do you think that living off the welfare state taught these two that it is not necessary to learn and earn; but rather just plunder learners and earners? Out of the total amount of food these two have eaten in their entire lives how much of it do you think was earned through a paycheck and how much of it do you think was supplied by one or another form of welfare? Out of the total amount of housing supplied to these two how much of it do you think was earned through a paycheck and how much of it do you think was supplied by one or another form of welfare? Through their eyes, why should they have had to learn and earn?

Maybe these Lovette and Atwater grew up with some sense of entitlement or an idea that they could take what they wanted. They also might have learned they could get off easy when they were caught.

I think probation is appropriate in some cases. Kids make mistakes, and if no one was really hurt maybe they can be let off with a stern warning and close supervision.

But this doesn't work when the supervision is lacking and there's no apparent penalty for violating the terms of probation. That's when very bad things can happen.

I'ts a simple problem to fix.
Hire about ten times as many probation officers as we have now so they can handle the unbelievable caseload, and only hire officers who will never, ever make a mistake. Make sure each officer does everything exactly right, each time, every day, and is perfect in every way.
It should only take tens of millions of dollars of tax money to make this workable. And when we're through with the probation office we can spend tens of millions on every other government department that doesn't work exactly perfectly each and every time.
Sorry, folks, we live in a real and human world. Things don 't work perfectly every time. Probation officers are as human as employees in every other sector of society, and sometimes bad things happen. With they low salary most officers receive, we can't expect miracles. You pay peanuts, you get monkeys.

So, let's find out how badly understaffed or underfunded the probation system is, or what needs to happen to make it work. If we can't make it work, then maybe we need to put fewer criminals on probation and keep more locked up. This is a public safety issue with big implications. A poor job there forces cities and counties to spend more on police protection.

Doug, just ask any probation officer how overloaded they are and how difficult it is to even approach 100% compliance on their caseload, you'll quickly find out the extent of the problem.
But why stop at that? GPD is 100 officers short...why not fix that problem first?
Why not fix all the government problems...just throw money at them!
Not trying to be a smartbutt, but if it was that simple, Doug, it would already be fixed. Any staffing problem requires $$$$ to fix. The tax-paying public would scream in agony if required to provide every dollar needed to fix most government agencies.

I just came back from hearing Barack Obama, and his answer to every problem is for the federal government to spend more money. I don't want to suggest the same here. I know we can't put a cop on every street corner 24/7 or have a probation officer move in with every criminal. But does that mean we can't do any better than what we've got?

In the Carson case, we have two people charged. Both were on poorly supervised probation. If the general ratio of failure is close to that, we're in big trouble.

Doug, we can always get better in many venues. I'd like news reporters that get each and every fact right and never make a mistake. Reporters that don't let bias cloud their "news" stories. How many careers will newspapers destroy based on lies and innuendo before we've had enough?? I think we're in big trouble from the news media, I don't worry so much about parolees/probationers.
Taxpayers are stingy with the pocketbook when it comes to emergency services, child social services, mental health care, etc. Those agencies have to get by on a shoestring, and salaries for those folks are sometimes so low it should be illegal to pay so little. But let ONE incident happen, and the taxpayers demand perfection while paying peanuts.
We live in a real world, stuff happens.

Even if it's one incident, and we're actually talking about two separate murders, people's lives make it important incidents. But how do we know it's one incident, or two?

Doug, I suggest you talk to some real probation/parole officers and find out just how unbelievably overloaded they are. I doubt you'll believe it. And while you're at it, do the same with social services/child services workers, mental health workers, etc. Yes, it involves people lives. And taxpayers think they can give these workers lip service and a low-ball wage and have them work miracles.
We're human living and working in a real world, things aren't always perfect.
In the same vein, shouldn't we expect more from our news media than politically biased stories intended to sway the reader to a certain point of view? What about when these biased stories destroy someone's career and reputation? Is there no culpability there? Why can't you people get it right??
(See, this line of thought can extend far beyond the criminal justice system.)

jaycee, obviously we're talking past each other. Sure, the media make lots of mistakes. Would you like me to complain about how understaffed and underfunded many news organizations are? We'd do a whole lot better job if only we could get you to pay $5 for the paper every day. Actually, I wouldn't expect you to accept that sort of excuse.

Doug, I haven't actually bought the N&R in years. When someone asked me why, I said, "I don't want to encourage them."