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Thinking About the Future of Probation Inspection

NCJ Number
204186
Journal
Howard Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 43 Issue: 1 Dated: February 2004 Pages: 79-92
Author(s)
Rod Morgan
Date Published
February 2004
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This article reflects on the character of probation inspecting work and the role of the inspectorate, and offers speculation concerning the possible future of probation inspection within the criminal justice system.
Abstract
Offered first in the article is a review of Bill McWilliam’s series of articles on the history of the probation service in England and Wales that appeared in The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice from 1983 through 1987. Next, the functions of the inspectorate, including the specific cases of the HMIProbation and the National Probation Services (NPS), are examined. The variability in inspectorate functions covers such areas as public interest accountability, identifying good and bad practice, and safeguarding the interests of the public. The functions of inspectorates should be related to characteristics of the services they inspect. As such, in April 2001, the HMIProbation fundamentally changed when the 54 local probation services in England and Wales became the NPS. A new inspection methodology grew out of this change to a national probation service, resulting in more emphasis on outcomes and less on processes. There is also more emphasis placed on the offenders themselves, more attention to partnership-based interventions, more attention to the family as a unit, more focused use of targeted rather than routine inspections, and more secondary analysis of data concerning “what works.” Finally, if the main objective of the criminal justice system is to improve its operations, there is a call for a single inspectorate that would cover the police, the Crown Prosecution Service, the criminal courts, and the Probation and Prison Services. Such a fusion in inspectorate services would create common methodologies within corrections work, sharing of ideas between the various criminal justice services, enhanced capacity to acquire share expertise, and greater flexibility of resources. The author speculates that such a fusion will be hard won and will be often debated in the coming years. Notes, references