The New Zealand Probation Service is a branch or service of the New Zealand Corrections Department. Established in 1886, its role is to manage offenders sentenced to community based sentences such as home detention, community detention and intensive supervision. The Service also manages prisoners in the community who have been released on parole and offenders on release conditions at the end of their prison sentence (for up to six months). According to Corrections website, in 2014 the Service was looking after approximately 30,000 offenders in the community. The Probation Officer's role is described as "work(ing) with people on probation to motivate them to make changes in their lives. This may include attending programmes to address violence, alcohol and drug abuse or driving offences."In the community, Corrections website
In the 19th and early 20th century, probation officers were required to "befriend" offenders. As the number of offenders being managed in the community has grown, probation officers have had to become more focused on compliance with the sentence than on assisting offenders with rehabilitation. Corrections says the Probation Service is now more focused on keeping the public safe.
Historical overview According to Chief Justice Dame Sian Elias, the New Zealand Probation Service was formed in 1886. New Zealand pioneered the service long before any other country in the British empire including Great Britain.Dame Sian Elias, Blameless Babes speech, Annual Shirley Smith address, Victoria University, 9 July 2009, para 35 The legislation establishing probation in New Zealand was introduced by the Hon Joseph Augustus Tole who was Minister of Justice from 1884 to 1887. Tole said at the time: "It is cheaper and safer to reduce crime or to reform criminals than to build gaols".Blameless Babes speech, chief justice Dame Sian Elias, 9 July 2009, para 35. In 1906 The Evening Post (now defunct) described the act setting up probation as "one of the best ever placed on a statute book" and said "those who in 1886 had opposed it as dangerous legislation must now admit that such opinions were erroneous"."How Probation Works: A Satisfactory Report" The Evening Post, 23 August 1906.
In recent years, the role of probation officers has changed considerably. In her "Blameless Babes" speech at Victoria University in 2009, Dame Sian said that "when legislation was enacted in England in 1907, one of the functions of the probation officer was 'to advise, assist and befriend' the offender." She said this principle was endorsed in New Zealand by the 1954 Criminal Justice Act which required probation officers "to assist the social rehabilitation of offenders." However Dame Sian points out that in the 21st century, "the statutory functions of the probation officer contain no explicit reference to advice or assistance, much less to 'befriending'," and she suggests that something has been lost in the process.Dame Sian Elias, Blameless Babes speech, Annual Shirley Smith address, Victoria University, 9 July 2009, Victorian University Law Review, p 591.
Staff The Probation Service includes probation officers, psychologists, programme facilitators, community work supervisors, managers and administrators – supported by the department's head office in Wellington. Between 2003 and 2010, frontline staff numbers increased by 145%, such that in June 2010 there were 2,311 staff in 120 offices nationwide.Community Probation Services in New Zealand, Change Programme 2009 - 2012, P 9. By 2016, this number had dropped to 1,200.130 years of Probation in NZ, Sunlive, 11 Aug, 2016
Previous community based sentences Probation officers are responsible for monitoring offenders on a variety of community based sentences.
Periodic detention
Periodic detention was first introduced in 1962. It enabled judges to send young offenders between the age of 15 to 20 to a residential facility. It was called periodic detention because it usually required the offender to reside at a work centre from Friday evening to Sunday morning and attend for two to four hours one evening during the week under the supervision of resident wardens. Detainees were required to participate in classes or "undergo such instruction as the warden considered conducive to that person's reformation and training".Periodic detention, Community-based Sentences in New Zealand, Ministry of Justice website Ralph Hanan the Minister of Justice at the time described it as new sentence which would "provide a useful method of dealing with young louts, vandals and the like who may be headed towards a criminal career if not diverted at an early age".New Zealand Parliamentary Debates, Vol. 331, 1962 p1848.
Community service Community service was established in 1980 as an amendment to the Criminal Justice Act 1954. It allowed an offender (convicted of an imprisonable offence) to undertake community service for a period of between 20 and 200 hours and the hours must be completed within 12 months. The service or work is usually for a charity or public agency and offenders cannot be paid for the work they do.Community service, Community-based Sentences in New Zealand, Ministry of Justice website
With the introduction of the Sentencing Act in 2002, periodic detention and community service were abolishedCommunity-based sentences, Ministry of Justice and replaced by community work and community detention.
Current community based sentences
Supervision Supervision can be imposed for a period between 6 months and 1 year and requires the offender to report to a probation officer as and when directed. Reporting usually begins with once a week, but may be relaxed if the offender is compliant, to once a fortnight then once a month. The offender is required to notify the probation officer where they live and work and must obey any directives which prohibit "association with specified persons" such as co-offenders.Supervision, Community-based Sentences in New Zealand, Ministry of Justice website
Intensive supervision Unlike 'supervision', which is mainly a monitoring process, intensive supervision is a sentence focused on rehabilitation. It may be imposed for up to two years and includes participation in counselling, residential treatment if required and other appropriate training programmes. It may also include regular reports to the court on the offender's progress.Sentence types, Statistics department
Community detention Community detention was introduced by the Sentencing Act of 2002. This allows an offender to continue working in the community but under a curfew requiring them to remain at an approved residence at certain times, usually in the evenings. The sentence can be imposed for anywhere between 14 days and six months and the offender wears a bracelet and is monitored electronically to ensure compliance.Community detention, Corrections Department website
Home detention
In 2007 the Parole Amendment Act removed responsibility for the imposition of home detention from the Parole Board and made it a stand-alone sentence that could be imposed by district court judges.Law Changes (October 2007), New Zealand parole Board It can only be imposed as an alternative to prison if the potential prison sentence faced by the offender is two years or less.
Offenders on home detention are required to wear an ankle bracelet and stay at an approved address where they are electronically monitored 24 hours a day for up to 12 months.Home detention and post detention conditions, Corrections Department website Detainees may be able to work but also have to undertake rehabilitation programmes to address the causes of their offending. Any leave of absence to attend work, rehabilitation programmes, or important appointments such as the doctor requires pre-approval of the offender's probation officer.
In 2014, approximately 1,800 offenders were serving sentences of home detention. Offenders are likely to be sent to prison if they leave the address without permission or breach the home detention rules. However, 'breaches' sometimes occur because the signal 'drops out' giving the impression that the offender has absconded from the detention address when they have not.Home detention monitoring system criticised, Southland Times 31 August 2012. The most significant breaches occur when offenders cut off the bracelet. According to the Corrections Department, only 1% of those on home detention cut their bracelets off and the majority are caught soon afterwards and sentenced to prison.Home detainees who cut and do a runner, NZ Herald, 20 February 2014
Recent developments
One of the factors affecting the role of the Probation Service has been a dramatic increase in its workload. In 2003 the service managed a total of 55,869 sentences or court orders. By the end of 2009, that figure was up to 105,430.Community Probation Services in New Zealand, Change Programme 2009 - 2012, p 5. The department acknowledges that the quality of its service has been negatively affected by the increased workload and that probation officers have struggled to keep up.
There have been some serious incidents with offenders being managed by Probation. In 1997, William Bell killed three people and seriously injured another (Susan Couch) at the Panmure RSA after Probation failed to monitor him adequately once he was released from prison.Slipping through probation cracks Convicted murderer Graeme Burton was released on parole in 2006 and, within six months, committed another murder by shooting Karl Kuchenbecker in the hills of Wainuiomata.Criminals run riot on parole During this time police were well aware Burton was assaulting known drug dealers to obtain methamphetamine and other drugsPolice knew Burton was robbing drug dealers, NZ Herald 1 December 2007 but no attempt was made to have him recalled to prison.
In response to these failures, in 2009 Corrections initiated a "Change Programme" which redefined the purpose of the Probation Service and the way it worked. Katrina Casey, Probation General Manager at the time, said the new focus was on "holding offenders to account and managing them to comply with their sentences and orders, reduce their likelihood of re-offending and minimise their risk of harm to others." The Service said it would achieve this by replacing a "vast operations manual" with an online practice centre.Change has come - Probation practice redesign complete, Corrections News May-Jun 2012.
Shortly afterwards, the Auditor General, Kevin Brady examined Probations' management of 100 separate cases and issued a highly critical report.Managing Offenders on Parole, Auditor General's report, 2009, p 3. The report was released soon after Corrections claimed it had improved its management of prisoners on parole following its disastrous mishandling of Graeme Burton's case. It said the growing numbers of offenders on community-based sentences was exacerbating an existing staffing crisis. In response to the auditor general's criticisms, the Probation Service has taken on more staff and tightened up its procedures such that staff have now become even more focused on supervision and compliance. In October 2010, Probation Services claimed that 96% of parolees were now being managed correctly."Dramatic improvement in monitoring of paroled prisoners". Morning Report. Radio New Zealand. 22 October 2010.
Advice to courts and parole board
Court reports