NCJ Number
139347
Date Published
1991
Length
121 pages
Annotation
This report examines the history and current assessment of the effectiveness of British Probation Liaison Committees (PLC's) and proposes a direction for the future development of these committees.
Abstract
Since current PLC's are designed to structure and facilitate cooperation between magistrates and the probation service, the report opens with a review of the historical development of the relationship between magistrates and the probation service, with attention to the emergence of Probation Case Committees as a means of ensuring court oversight of probation implementation of court sentencing. PLC's supplanted Probation Case Committees. PLC's are composed of selected groups of magistrates who are mandated to ensure that the probation service implements the intent of sentencing. A review of previous research on the effectiveness of PLC's, however, indicates that communication and cooperation between probation professionals and magistrates through PLC's is often ineffective. Probation staff particularly feel that their input does not significantly impact court sentencing policy and court expectations for probation. This report proposes a new committee forum for each local jurisdiction that would ensure that all bench magistrates and probation officers serving that court establish good working practices, supported by a full understanding of the principles and methods by which each performs. Magistrates and probation officers would be equal partners in this forum with equal rights and responsibilities. This proposal details the responsibilities and parameters for this new forum. Appended questionnaire sent to probation officers to solicit their opinions of PLC's