NCJ Number
168875
Journal
Federal Probation Volume: 60 Issue: 1 Dated: (March 1996) Pages: 72-77
Date Published
1996
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This article examines how automation and other factors have affected the roles of probation and pretrial services officers, clerks and managers; how change and changing roles should be embraced rather than rejected; and how managers play a critical role as agents of change, promoting the use of automation in evolving new roles.
Abstract
In 1996 the Federal probation and pretrial services system had approximately 6,400 employees using more than 7,000 computers. Daily, probation and pretrial services officers used a wide array of automation tools, including personal computers, e-mail, laptop computers, local area networks, wide-area networks and a variety of software packages. Officers used automated systems to quickly finish repetitive paperwork that previously had to be written out in longhand and passed back and forth between the officer, the clerk and the supervisor. Automation saved both the officer's and the clerk's time. The article examines how some districts have used automation, the move to decentralize, new roles for employees and managing change. References