Probation Department Is Inefficient

In a June 13 letter, Michael Schumacher, Orange County’s chief probation officer, claimed that his department is too understaffed to handle supervising the current caseload of juvenile and adult offenders--the implication being that the now-beleaguered county taxpayer needs to make up for the staffing shortages caused by the bankruptcy. My personal experience with Mr. Schumacher’s department should serve to directly contradict this notion.

On June 25, six probation deputies raided my home under the veil of a “routine probation check” of my wife’s 18-year-old son. Shocked and somewhat frightened by the sight of six armed officers coming through our door, I asked if it was really necessary for such a large show of force to do a “routine” check of a misdemeanor offender. The supervising officer then proudly offered, “This is nothing--you should see when there’s 12 of us and we come crashing through the door!”

I was then told to take a seat and stay in it before I got hurt. We were told that the probation check would take only a few minutes and would cover only the living area of the person on probation, who was not home at the time. Over the next 1 1/2 hours, our entire home was searched (including our bedroom) while two armed, uniformed officers made sure we stayed in our seats even though portions of our home were being ransacked. When it was all over, we were again told that this had only been a routine probation check, that the probation subject was not in trouble and that everything looked in order.

Oh, there was one potential problem, however. I was questioned about a historical monument sign depicting Mission San Juan Capistrano displayed on our den wall that I had purchased for $150 from a city of San Juan Capistrano liquidation/fund-raiser. No collar there.

So it took six police officers in as many vehicles over 1 1/2 hours to conduct a routine check of a misdemeanor offender even though, by their own admission, it sometimes takes 12. Mr. Schumacher’s appeal to your readers that his department is “understaffed” should fall on deaf ears. This was a perfect example of too many resources chasing too few problems when other critical policing needs go unfunded (i.e., modern radio communications and newer helicopters).

Probation is one county department that hasn’t yet gotten the message from the largest municipal bankruptcy in history--do more with less. And quit crying about it!

MARK CLANCEY

San Juan Capistrano