PROBATION SYSTEM

Greymouth Evening Star, 4 January 1938, Page 12

PROBATION SYSTEM

A CORRECTIVE FORCE. Probation as a means of discipline is disicussed in its various aspects by Mr B. L. Dallard, Chief Probation Officer, in his annual report to Parliament. Mr Dallard states 1 that probation was first adopted in New Zealand in 1836 on the passing of the First Offenders' Probation Act. Until the passing of the Offenders’ Probation Act, 1920, probation was applied only to first offenders, but since the passing of the later Act this method of dealing .with offenders hast been more generally applied, the Courts exercising a free discretion as to w’.at persons shall be admitted to probation.

“The Statute prescribes as a preliminary to consideration of probation that the Court may require a Probation Officer to make inquiry respecting the character, personal history. and any other special matter relating to an offender to assist it in deciding whether the case is one for probation,” he continues. “In reporting to the Court the Probation Officer is required to have regard to the best interests of the public and of the offender concerned.

“Probation is generally regarded by most authorities as being inappropriate to offences involving deliberation and brutality. In other words, persons most likely, to respond to this form of treatment are those classed as ‘accidental offenders.’ The interests of the community as a. whole must invariably be paramount and it may be in certain cases that a severer form of punishment is desirable as a deterrent to others, as in the case of crimes of common prevalence, but where such considerations do not arise probation should be seriously considered as a constructive alternative to imprisonment, especially in cases of adults, where the severance of domestic ties and the stigma on the family of an offender renders imprisonment an infinitely harsher means of punishment than is implied by the deprivation of the liberty of the person concerned. “With young offenders bad environmental conditions and influences and the need of discipline and training, are factors not to be overlooked, as separation from undesirable associations or the well-ordered regimen of a Borstal institution may mean the deflection of a young offender from the ‘slippery slope' that leads to a criminal career. Again, with the offenders; who may be classed as ‘socially inefficient,’ custodial treatment is often be,s)t in their own interests, unless suitable care and oversight in the community can be arranged.

CENTRALISED SYSTEM. “Probation in New Zealand is administered under a. centralised system of control under the Department of Justice. Each Probation Officer has a direct and individual responsibility to the Court to which he is attached, but. he furnishes reports regularly in respect, of each case to headquarters, where a case record of each probationer is kept. Offenders in New Zealand would seem to be essentially nomadic. and the system adopted makes it, more easy to keep a check on a probationer's movements around the country and to arrange for prompt action to be taken should he fail, to comply with the conditions of his release.

“The reports' from the District Probation Officers disclose a satisfactory year’s work, and with few exceptions, those admitted to probation responded well to the obligations imposed. Approximately 6 per cent only of the total dealt with during the year committed breaches of the conditions. “One Probation Officer, states: ‘The success of the system is evidenced' by the large number of ex-probationers one meets who have been restored to useful citizenship and who have retrieved their self-respect as selfreliant members of the community.’ Probation is essentially a method of treatment calling for firm, but understanding. oversight on the part of the Probation Officer, and his assistants. An attitude of ‘maternal fussiness’ is equally as disastrous to the best results as one of exacting narrowness. Common sense and an experience of human nature usually command) more resipect than experimentation with fanciful theories which are often grasped at by the wrongdoer as a means of rationalising his conduct. Any philosophy which makes an offender feel sorry for himself rather than ashamed is not calculated to inspire the best results.

ANALYSING OFFENCES. “The total number admitted to probation was 813, or 54 more than for the previous year,” continues the report. “An analyslisi of the offences involved shows that the largest increase was in connection with offences (fraudulent statements) relating to the Employment Promotion Fund, such offences representing just under 10 per cent, of the total cases dealt with. These cases exercise the

Courts to no small degree, their general prevalence and deliberateness calling for salutary penalties on the one hand, whereas on the other imprisonment involves hardship to the families who, in many cases, have already suffered privation through unemployment. Except in very bad cases, time is allowed in which to pay fines in instalments, the fines in many cases being fixed at air amount equivalent to the sum fraudulently obtained. “Unlawful conversion of motor-cars' also showed an increase. There were a considerably fewer number of offenders dealt with by probation for intoxication in charge of a motorvehicle and negligent driving than in the previous year, and in this connection an interesting experiment has been tried by some of the Magistrates, making it a condition of probation that the offender shall be required to take a course of instruction in ‘road . courtesy and driving’ under the expert guidance of officers of the local Traffic Department. The reports received indicate that this experiment has met with successful results. “During the year under review £3349 was collected under orders for restitution, £2731 of which was restored to persons defrauded. This is a positive feature of probation as compared with imprisonment, where the offender is a burden on the taxpayer. This requirement to make reparation has a very salutary effect in most cases, particularly with young offenders, for the reason that the steady repayment by instalments indicates whether the probationer is in employment. The discipline .of regular work is in itself a. reforming influence.”