Feature -- by Tom Babin

Probation officers may be notorious for their ability to bust chops, but in Calgary, anyone with hopes of entering the industry might be better off showing an affinity for Florence Nightingale than Dirty Harry. Calgary has a unique youth probation system that requires its officers to have a degree in social work, rather than a background related to criminology, so, not only is the probation system in Calgary distinctive, so too is the type of person who makes a good officer.

By hiring social workers, the Calgary youth probation system takes its focus away from enforcement and works more towards rehabilitation in an effort to deter people from further crime. "That doesn't mean we sit around and do a lot of hugs and warm fuzzies all the time," said Calgary youth probation officer Bob Alexander. "If that needs to happen, and will work, great. But if it doesn't happen, then we become the enforcer." Alexander said that as well as supervising young people bound by Probation Orders, one role of a probation officer in Calgary is to help judges make decisions when sentencing young offenders. Once an offender pleads guilty, probation officers are called upon to formulate a report about the offender to give the judge more information before sentencing. "We'll talk to parents, visit the home and we'll talk to counsellors who have been involved," Alexander said. "We'll talk to police, we'll talk to the victim, we'll talk to schools, anybody. Family, friends, you name it. It can be real detective work we do here." The report is intended to give the judge an accurate picture of the offender, including family life, past offences and lifestyle, so the judge can sentence accordingly.

The method used by the Calgary youth probation system means officers must have some special qualities. "The best probation officers that I know are the ones that can put themselves in the kid's shoes, or the family's shoes, and still make an objective decision on how to handle it," Alexander said. Getting into the shoes of another person can be challenging, especially, for example, when those shoes belong to an offender who may have a history of abuse, come from a different cultural background or even live on the street. Probation officers must be open minded enough to understand the motivations and backgrounds of offenders, but be able to step back and make a professional assessment and recommendation to a judge. "You've got to have more than understanding, you have to want to help them (the offender)," said Sandy MacDuff, who works on a pilot probation program called Community Restoration Conferencing. "You have to be aware of all the peripheral things. The big picture."

MacDuff and her work with community restoration conferencing may be signalling a change in the youth probation system in Calgary. The program, run in Calgary by youth probation officer Doug Borch with the support of MacDuff, brings young offenders and their families together with their victims so everyone involved can try to understand the crime and have a hand in sentencing and rehabilitation. At a time when many politicians are calling for stiffer sentences for young offenders, Alexander said understanding the motivations behind a crime and addressing them is often more effective to the offender, and the victim, than jail time. Calgary has a low rate of re-offense among young offenders, part of which Alexander attributes to the youth probation systems policy towards jail time. "Sandy and I did a presentation at one of the high schools and I had one of the kids ask 'why don't kids do adult time for adult crimes?'" Alexander said. "I suggested to that young person that, really, you have to look at kids a lot different than adults. They don't have the life experience to make the wise decisions. They simply don't and the spirit of the Young Offenders Act reflects that inherent philosophy."

MacDuff may also bring another change to Calgary's probation system. She joined the program with a background in criminology, meaning in the future, those trained in criminology may join social workers as part of the probation system. Lethbridge College criminal justice instructor Ian Hepher said traditionally, Calgary has been the only city in Alberta that does not hire those with backgrounds in criminology, the same programs that produce many RCMP and police officers. MacDuff's criminology background may mean the system in Calgary will open its doors to those trained in areas other than social work, thereby fostering new ways of thinking about the probation system. Both Alexander and MacDuff, however, said the most important quality of a successful probation officer in Calgary will continue to be a desire to help.