Ethics in Parole and Probation Department

Roles of Parole and Probation Department

The parole and probation department is a department in correction services agents that deals with supervision of offenders in the community. The parole and probation officers are needed to carry out a number of statutory functions in association to offenders’ supervision in the community. The offer post- and pre-sentencing advice to the Parole Board, Supreme Courts, Magistrates, and the Youth Justice about the compliance and management of offenders in the community.  The department is also involved in analysis and collection of pertinent information for the Parole Board and the Courts report submission, to assist its officers in establishing if criminals should be recommended for Parole or put on community-founded orders. The department is also responsible of managing the juvenile and adult offenders’ caseload and evaluating needs and risks of each offender so as to create individual plans structured to handle their offensive behaviors (North Territory Government, 2012).

Three codes of conducts for Parole and Probation Agencies

The three most appealing codes of conduct for parole and probation agencies include:

• The parole and probation officer shall maintain the law with dignity, demonstrating an awareness of his or her duties to offenders while acknowledging the public right to be protected from criminal activities (American probation and parole association, 2009).
• Parole and probation offices shall be objective in their duties performance, acknowledging the all individuals inalienable right, appreciating the individual inherent worth, and honoring those confidence that can be reposed in an officer.
• A probation and parole officer shall not allow financial, family, political, social or any other relationship or interest to influence the judgment or conduct in duties performance and shall step down form supervision of investigation of a case where unwarranted influence or the unwarranted influence appearance might make his or her duties questionable (In.gov, n.d.).

Comparison of the Selected Codes of Conduct

The three codes of conduct are similar in that they focus on upholding the professionalism of the officers involved in probation and parole duties. They also focus on ensuring that officers remain focused to their duties and the law that guide their conduct. The main differences among the three are that the first one focuses on streaming officers’ adherence to the law to ensure effective accomplishment of their duties to offenders and the community at large. The second one also focuses on ensuring that an office remains focused to the main objective in their work but not without remembering the rights of other individuals who may be impacted by their acts. The last one ensures that a high level of ethics is maintained and that parole job is not influenced on emotions but that they are handled with a very high level of professionalism.

Chosen Codes of Conducts

The three codes of conducts are very essential in the agent however, only the third and the first one can be recommended to the agency. The two are chosen since they will play a great role in upholding professionalism among parole offices

Role in Professionalism Improvement

The first code focuses on the relation between the parole officer, the offender and the public by guiding the parole officer on how to conduct their duties without undermining the law or the public rights. This makes it easier control the behavior of officers and to ensure that they remain professional. The third one addresses personal relation that is very likely to occur especially while following offenders to their own home. This aspect is more likely to dilute professionalism and thus it should be integrated in the current codes of conduct.

Implementation of the New Code

Internal workshop and seminars should be organized to introduce the new codes of conducts. The seminars will include printing out the new codes and explaining them to the officers before they are implemented in the system. Explaining should go into the details to ensure everyone understand the new codes and the consequences of not following.