Probation Union: Guns Deadly for Members

The Chief-Leader/Michel Friang BEYOND THEIR LIMITATIONS: United Probation Officers Association President Dominic Coluccio says the Probation Department made a deadly mistake in giving his newer members guns, contending, 'They made us law-enforcement agents without the individuals capable of doing the job.' He traces several suicides to members having the weapons combined with stress caused by added caseloads, but the agency's top official disputed both claims.

United Probation Officers Association President Dominic Coluccio charged that recently departed Probation Commissioner Martin F. Horn's decisions to give his members guns while increasing their workloads contributed to the suicides of four officers in the last four years after 31 years of no self-inflicted deaths at the agency.

"They made us law-enforcement agents without the individuals capable of doing that job," Mr. Coluccio said in an interview. He explained that many of those people who meet the rigorous academic qualifications for the job have master's degrees, but they feel uncomfortable carrying weapons. "They are social workers."

None Used Guns on Duty

Under Mr. Horn, who stepped down July 31 as both Probation and Correction Commissioner, new Probation Officers were required to carry weapons, but those who started before he arrived in 2002 had the option to decline. Since the start of the policy, no Probation Officers have fired their weapon outside of the range or been fired upon, though some officers interviewed said they needed the weapons as a deterrent because they often entered dangerous situations.

"It was a big change for us 'til we got used to it," one Brooklyn PO said.

For Mr. Coluccio it was particularly wrenching that weapons meant to protect have only been used to kill his own members. In one recent case, a Probation Officer's daughter used a department-issued pistol to kill herself, in addition to the four POs who he said took their own lives.

"Of course, it is troubling to me that no help was given to them . . . that someone suffers in silence," said another Brooklyn Probation Officer, who like his colleague spoke conditioned on anonymity.

A spokesman for the Department of Probation said there had only been three suicides in the last four years, but the union said that another Probation Officer took his life by other means. Mr. Coluccio declined to identify any of the officers, citing privacy concerns.

"Assertions about the incidents of suicide involving department-issued firearms are inaccurate," said Acting Commissioner of Probation Patricia Brennan. "There have been three PO suicides in the past several years and only one of those involved a department issued weapon.

'Effective Means of Protection'

"Another involved a privatelyowned weapon and the third did not involve a weapon at all. Furthermore, the policy change to require POs new to the job to be armed has been an effective means of protecting officers while they are in the field doing work that involves risk and danger every day."

Mr. Coluccio and Probation Officers interviewed said that part of the problem was a high level of stress brought on by an increase in work demands that forced two Probation Officers to make 20 field visits a day together in the same car.

A spokesman for the department countered that the caseload has decreased dramatically to a cap of 65 cases per field worker annually because Probation introduced self-serve kiosks to handle the less-troublesome cases.

Still, Probation Officers spoke of a hectic schedule where they had limited time with each parolee. "It's overwhelming, because the caseload is very high," one said.

Ms. Brennan disagreed, saying, "The incontrovertible fact is that PO caseloads were reduced by the administration from an average of 300 prior to Horn to the point where the largest caseloads are now capped at 65. Furthermore, to increase efficiency, officers were for the first time assigned caseloads based on the geographic locations of probationers, which reduces time spent in transit."

Quantity Over Quality?

Mr. Coluccio said that many Probation Officers were forced to use their own cars because it would be impossible to make so many visits in one day by public transit. "The visits are not as meaningful as in the past," he said in a phone interview.

In order to complete the necessary site visits, Mr. Coluccio said that in a 7½-hour day the Probation Officers need to make about three an hour. "It's become a numbers game," he said, for the officers who spend three days a week making site visits and two days on administrative matters.

"Prior to the Horn administration, officers with caseloads of 300 rarely left the office at all and usually interviewed only those probationers who showed up," Ms. Brennan said. "If anything, reforms and policy changes implemented under Commissioner Horn have significantly improved the working conditions of Probation Officers. The number of field visits made daily by POs is by itself meaningless, since it can never be assumed that a probationer will be located at the first location and because most visits are brief. "

Mr. Coluccio, however, said all of this, including the decrease of Probation Officers from 1,076 to 771 since 2002, has contributed to a decline in the care given to the same number of probationers. "It is less possible to be rehabilitated now," he said, adding that the first-time offender probationers who have the most potential are sometimes now seen ly by a machine. "When they are getting probation, they should be getting probation."

Probation cited a recent state Division of Criminal Justice Services report that said of the city offenders convicted of felony and misdemeanor offenses who were sentenced to probation during 2007, 16.4 percent were arrested for a felony offense within one year of sentence, compared to a 22.6-percent felony re-arrest rate for offenders sentenced to probation during 1998.