News-Record.com

I think any "investigation" will show the same thing as in this case--thousands of cases assigned to overworked, underpaid, poorly trained and unmotivated officers. It's always been that way, it won't get better until the taxpayers are willing to shell out millions of $$$ to change things in our criminal justice system. But then, it will take millions of $$$ to upgrade EACH of the separate arms of the criminal justice system: courts, probation, enforcement, corrections, etc. And that ain't gonna happen.

What a joke of the criminal justice system! Thank God we have the second admendment. This may be an eye opener for citizens who thought that the government is going to be there to protect them. I thougth maybe the government could protect us a little bit but his is outrageous.

Well, nobody can protect us as long as conservatives in both political parties continue to defund, devolve and deregulate everything that makes for a civil society. Other nations have sane gun control laws and far less crime than the United States, (The EU, primarily) because citizens are willing to create -- and pay for -- responsible and responsive government. The answer to crime is not just more prisons and probation officers -- and definitely NOT more guns. We need stronger gun control laws.

Having stronger gun-control laws would require strong enforcement of those laws -- arresting, prosecuting and punishing violators. So wouldn't prison still be part of the answer?

So Laura, you're maintaining that the cretins who killed Eve Carson would, if they were pistol-free, have hesitated and not used a knife or strangled or beaten her to death for her ATM card?

Laura is it not you liberals who are soft on crime? The first thing I read about this was we failed this guys. Jaycee, I got to leave you on this one. I read this this lady had a case load of 127. Hell my doctor saw 42 patients before 2 oclock last Thursday. We all lived. 127 equals about thirty a week, in the real world if you only saw thirty customers in a week, you would be out on your butt. if these folks can not handle this, they should try a real job, working for the man. I know 100s of state employees, all gripe they are over worked and under paid. I know of none that have quit. Except the ones we need policeman, and school teachers. Now these that do their jobs, in my opinion get screwed.

Guy is right about one thing: they'll take plenty of heat from the root-causes crowd for sending parole violators back to prison. "Society" and guns will, as always, serve as the whipping boys for those "in the know."

Guy is right about one thing: they'll take plenty of heat from the root-causes crowd for sending parole violators back to prison. "Society" and guns will, as always, serve as the whipping boys for those "in the know."

Guy is right about one thing: they'll take plenty of heat from the root-causes crowd for sending parole violators back to prison. "Society" and guns will, as always, serve as the whipping boys for those "in the know."

@ Doug Johnson:
Your Doctor sees 42 patients before two and you call that good healthcare?

And your analogy does not make sense because it is not the same job. 127 cases is way over the allotment listed in the general statutes. You must also consider that these individuals must be seen in the office and at their homes. They must be drug screened by the officers(yes, officers are standing in the bathroom with the offenders). Searches are conducted. Arrests are made during the day. Offenders arrested in other counties must be transported by Probation Officers. Officers must testify in court and at Parole Hearings. Collateral contacts must be made with other agencies(substance abuse, sex offender treatment, abuser treatment). Family members are contacted. Quality contacts are made. Officers may spend an hour with an offender addressing issues. All of this happens on a daily basis. This is not counting emergency situations in which immediate Officer response is needed. Many things occur during an Officer's day. Please research before you make judgments. You are talking about a group of individuals that work alone, some without firearms, going into some of the worse places in the city. Some don't have radios to call for immediate backup. Officers go into homes by themselves unannounced on any given night walking into stressful situations.
I am not condoning anything concerning the cases in question; but know the facts about what Officer do on a daily basis before you condemn them.

Good health care, keep me alive for many years. I say he does a great job. I did my research, state employees are drinkers of coffer and BS. I noticed that not one person has been fired in this mess. If this was private company they would be getting the snot sued out of them. If this was a private company heads would roll. You say they spend a hour on a person. Pray tell what you could talk about for a hour. I did interviews for a private company, if you can not find out what you need in less than 30 minutes you are doing nothing but talking. By the way you are condoning what has happen by defending this folks. If the job to tough QUIT. If not do the job. I have yet to see one quit, they might have to go work in the private sector, were they would be REQIURED to perform.This girl died for one reason, sloppy work by the justice system. Yet there is no accountability!

Assigning 127 cases to one probation officer without proper training is sloppy work by the state for sure. I agree with C.A. It would be challenging for one officer to manage 40 cases. More than 100 is impossible.

This is another area where top leaders in state government (that's you, Gov. Easley) have been asleep on the job, like in mental health care reform.

I agree with Savage. "Gun control" would not have saved Eve Carson's life.

Besides, there already was "gun control." The suspects were prohibited by law from having a gun.

Quoting Doug:

"Besides, there already was "gun control." The suspects were prohibited by law from having a gun. "

BINGO!

The problem most bleeding-heart liberals don't understand is that even if you increase the amount of gun control, guess what? The criminals will still get their hands on guns, just like the two animals who killed Carson. If criminals cared about laws, they wouldn't be criminals in the first place. Regulation isn't the problem, it's enforcement. Too bad Lovette isn't 18, otherwise we could put that POS to death.

Doug - Since you know all about the probation officer's job. Why don't you get your butt out there and see what they have to do. Spending 1 hour with someone is common. Spending 1 hour at their house is common. Not only are they probation officer, they are: police officers, social workers, marriage counselors, financial planners, mentors, child support enforcement, drug & alcohol counselors, acting family members (since most of the time there isn’t a complete family) and on and on. They wear very many hats.

You know who they deal with? Sex offenders! Gang members! Violent crime offenders! They deal with the worse of the worse. THE ONES YOU DON’T WANT TO DEAL WITH. State law says they should have 60 or 90 cases depending on what type of cases they supervise. When these officers are supervising double that, there is no way they can supervise per policy. NOBODY can, not even you MR. DOUG JOHNSON.

When they take these same violent offenders back to court on a probation violation, guess what happens most of the time? They get continued back on probation, putting them back on the streets to commit crime. It’s a darn shame that judges receive emails from the General Assembly telling them not to send people to prison. If you think I’m lying about the emails, ask a judge! There are always a few bad apples in every job. I can tell you most of the probation officers in this state are hard working officers. They work with a caseload that is a lot larger than state law! They work in very dangerous places. They are doing searches and home visits on the turf of these violent offenders! They have 4 year degrees that don’t pay beans! Ask a probation officer who has been working for 17 years with a 4 year degree how much they make. You may be surprised that it would be under 39,000! They put their life on the line everyday they work to help protect you Mr. Johnson. They do it because it’s in their heart to help people try to turn their lives around. Until you stand in their shoes and do their job, DON’T CAST STONES on them. They might be the one who happens to roll up on you one day or night and saves your life from one of these violent criminals.

FOP,

Thanks for the info.

I don't think you read what I wrote -- that this is a systematic problem, not the fault of individual probation officers. It would be challenging for one officer to manage 40 cases, I wrote, impossible to cover more than 100.

I don't pretend to know all about their jobs. It's not the public's responsibility to know their jobs. It's the state's responsibility to make sure their jobs are done properly, and the state is failing.

@ This Dog Bites Back-"You say they spend a hour on a person. Pray tell what you could talk about for a hour. I did interviews for a private company, if you can not find out what you need in less than 30 minutes you are doing nothing but talking."

***If you are doing your job properly, you can easily spend an hour with the offender. You are confirming addresses, telephone numbers, completing criminal record checks. You are interviewing that individual getting him to talk about things he/she may not talk about, i.e. drug use, any contacts with children if they are a sex offender, treatment, gang affiliations, or just their day to day activities. You may be assisting with job apps. Drug screens are performed. That could easily turn into an hour. If you are at their homes, performing a good search could turn into an hour.

I am not condoning anything done in this situation. It is obvious that the job was not done. However, there are other officers in this state that are doing their jobs and doing it well. I am one of them. Sure I am underpaid and it is frustrating. I go into areas you would not be caught dead, alone, with no back up. I have had to make arrests on the spot by myself with no assistance with hostiles present. However, I and the other 2000+ officers in this state are proud of the badge that we carry and the work that we do. We are also saddened by what occurred and welcome positive change and assistance.

Thanks, C.A., for very positive comments. Thanks for doing a tough job. I think we're learning it's every bit as important for public safety as the job of any other law-enforcement officer.

All officers deserve adequate backup and support. That's where the state is letting us all down.

Doug Clark - My earlier blog wasn't for you. It was for Doug Johnson and The Dog Bites Back. It wasn't meant for you. I'm sorry I started it off with Doug instead of Doug Johnson.

I agree with what you said 100%. I just hope this blog and other articles in papers across North Carolina will open the eyes to the people of North Carolina and the General Assembly. I just hope they will see the problems the GREAT probation officers of this state face. They really try hard, but a lot of times their hands are tied. Again, that blog wasn't meant for you. I'm sorry if you though it was.

No problem. I understand the confusion. I just use my first name on my blog and encourage other Dougs to use their full name -- as Doug Johnson does when he's not using his Dog Bites handle. They're the same person.

Yes, this needs attention. It's taken a tragedy for the public to learn the impossible situation parole/probation officers are thrown into.

Having some knowledge in the matter of Probation and Parole in NC, I can say with certainty there are those who do their jobs the right way and spend WAYYYY more than 40 hours a week keeping track of their clients like they are supposed to, there are those who are simply overwhelmed by too great a caseload and are doing the very best they can while still trying to sleep a few hours in every 24 and then there are a few who are simply doing next to nothing but collecting a paycheck. Part of the problem (and if you check the websites of surrounding states, you can verify) the P&P officers of this state are terribly underpaid. But you don't have to take my word for it, the state of NC did a study in 2004 which told them the same thing. So if you are doing your P&P job right, it's because you are dedicated, not for the pay. And if you aren't, then I'd say if your only motivation is $$, you're in the wrong business.
Here's the backlash. Since this all hit the papers, P&P officers have been quitting at an alarming rate across the state. So that leaves more underpaid and overworked officers. Please understand too, that even though it is illiegal for these probationers to own firearms, they still get their hands on them. And it has been documented that some probationers have left appointments with their officers and gone and committed violent crimes within hours. Noone can change anyone else but trust me when I say, there are some highly qualified, dedicated P&P officers who will go the distance and make a stand against these criminals just to try and keep us all safer. Oh, and don't discount the fact that a lot of these criminals are back on the street after committing probation violations because they are entitled to lawyers who somehow get them off and judges who see fit to just extend their current probation instead of putting them back in jail.