US Probation Officer

[Viking14]

I have an interview in April, HR said there would be a written portion, a scenario and a panel interview.
Anyone know what scenario means? Like a video or a real life practical?

[TheDude13]

I have an interview in April, HR said there would be a written portion, a scenario and a panel interview.
Anyone know what scenario means? Like a video or a real life practical?

Probably just a written scenario, and you will have to say or write what you would do in that situation.

[tx0811]

I was just wondering what the typical day for a United States Pre-Trial Services Officer consists of? I know they investigate releasing defendant's on bail, past criminal history, risk to community, etc. I am just curious if they are out in the field a lot or primary spend their time at the Courthouse and jails.

[dsb05c]

The ones here are split between those that do mostly bail reports and those that do mostly supervision. The bail report people have a small caseload I believe of pretty low risk bond cases and the supervision folks have to be available at any time to come in and help right bail reports if they can slammed a bunch of new arrests. Bail reports are very quick backgrounds with very little turnaround and not much ability to verify information.

[PSOSAC]

The ones here are split between those that do mostly bail reports and those that do mostly supervision. The bail report people have a small caseload I believe of pretty low risk bond cases and the supervision folks have to be available at any time to come in and help right bail reports if they can slammed a bunch of new arrests. Bail reports are very quick backgrounds with very little turnaround and not much ability to verify information.

My District is totally opposite as we are not bifurcated. I do bail investigations (which are surprisingly detailed with substantiated info and are completed in a matyer of hours) as well as supervision to include electronic monitoring cases. Typically in the field weekly.

Sorry for the mistakes - fat fingers...

[dsb05c]

True, I will say that I haven't worked In pretrial so only what I have heard some say during trainings or in passing at court. The unverifiable cases are usually illegal immigrants or the go fast boat cases as well as semi submersibles. Those are tough to verify in a few hours but yes, PSO do verify what they can for the judges to determine flight risk.

[satxparoleofcr]

I was just wondering what the typical day for a United States Pre-Trial Services Officer consists of? I know they investigate releasing defendant's on bail, past criminal history, risk to community, etc. I am just curious if they are out in the field a lot or primary spend their time at the Courthouse and jails.

The ones here are split between those that do mostly bail reports and those that do mostly supervision. The bail report people have a small caseload I believe of pretty low risk bond cases and the supervision folks have to be available at any time to come in and help right bail reports if they can slammed a bunch of new arrests. Bail reports are very quick backgrounds with very little turnaround and not much ability to verify information.

My District is totally opposite as we are not bifurcated. I do bail investigations (which are surprisingly detailed with substantiated info and are completed in a matyer of hours) as well as supervision to include electronic monitoring cases. Typically in the field weekly.

Sorry for the mistakes - fat fingers...

In my district, we have tight time-frames. Sometimes you have under an hour to interview the person, type the bail report and type out all the prior record, rushing to court to get the reports distributed. In some circumstances, you don't have time to verify much but if given enough time by the court, you are able to do much more. Some districts have the Initial Appearance and Detention Hearing on the same day and other places have the IA on one day, then have the Detention Hearing three days later so the PSO has much more time to have a nice looking report. Field time varies on job assignment but it ranges from 1-3 days per month and that's it, which is definitely not enough field time to manage a large caseload to include LMP cases. If you are PTS, you have to be ready to drop what you're doing at a moments notice to jump in and handle new arrests, since that is the top priority.

[GBP_12]

Hi all, I've applied to a few districts in AR, MD, and CT. AR and MD denied me but I just got a call from CT for a written exam on Monday. They were gracious enough to let me take the test in Baltimore since I'm in MD still. I asked what the process is like/what the timeline is. She said that they would probably be getting results in a week or so, then I would go through the panel interview then the final. It sounds like she was saying that they want to have people ready to go by the end of June. I applied about a month ago...give or take. Any CT district officers on here willing to tell me about the district I'm all ears.

Just to give a little on me, I have some time as a CT state Correction Officer, non-sword officer position in a police department, military time, AS in CJ, BA in Poly Sci, MA in CJ, and now a Gov contractor.

[wvofficer]

Just recently received the official word that I'm starting my USPO position (in the Southeast) in the upcoming months. If any current USPO's could PM me with any insight or helpful knowledge, I would greatly appreciate it. I've been in law enforcement for 8 years (2 years Investigations) and have a BS in Criminology. Any knowledge on the position, FLETC, etc would be helpful...

[GBP_12]

I took the written yesterday. Seemed to go okay but we'll see, I wish I paid more attention in English class. They said that I should find out in about a week what my results were.

[Viking14]

I took the written yesterday. Seemed to go okay but we'll see, I wish I paid more attention in English class. They said that I should find out in about a week what my results were.

Just the written or was it in conjunction with the interview?

[GBP_12]

Just the written or was it in conjunction with the interview?

This was just the written. Once I get my results I'll (hopefully) be called back in for an interview.

[GBP_12]

I do have a question for the PO's out there. How is the work/life balance? I know the majority will say it depends on the district, but I'm just looking for the overall feel. I've worked in LE and the military so I know all about crap schedules.

Thanks

[brownj21]

I do have a question for the PO's out there. How is the work/life balance? I know the majority will say it depends on the district, but I'm just looking for the overall feel. I've worked in LE and the military so I know all about crap schedules.

Thanks

It truly does depend on the district. Some districts offer teleworking/comp time/flex time...and others do not. Obviously, those benefits can really help with the home life, if available. And again, it varies wildly from district to district.
With that said, the USPOs in my district pretty much never work weekends, unless there is an extreme issue and of course, field officers' schedules are very different than PSI writers schedules.

[TheDude13]

I do have a question for the PO's out there. How is the work/life balance? I know the majority will say it depends on the district, but I'm just looking for the overall feel. I've worked in LE and the military so I know all about crap schedules.

Thanks

It's a very family friendly work schedule, at least in my district. Pretty much 8-5 M-F with about one evening in the field per month. I'm in supervision.