From cop to probation officer

"So, what's your crime?"

The question is aggressive, probing, and direct.

Which is, of course, the point - because how the inquiry is answered will tell probation and parole officer Brian Fulford a lot about where an offender is in terms of rehabilitation.

Offenders who have been on probation for a while tend to have a pretty compliant attitude, said Fulford, a former Kalispell police detective who began supervising probationers and parolees in late April.

Offenders new to probation often are angry and tend to blame others for their situation.

"I see it as our job to hold people accountable through various sanctioned programs… until such time that they finally begin to realize that they are responsible for their conduct," Fulford said. "It's our role to help them figure that out."

Fulford, who was handed a 65-person caseload the day he was hired, spends much of his day interviewing offenders from his partially wood-paneled, fluorescently-lit office in the Triangle Building on Sunset Boulevard in Kalispell.

In an office that supervises more than 930 people, several probation officers have caseloads of over 90 people.

Fulford keeps a running list of deadlines for violation hearings, report times and drug testing appointments, to name a few.

An offender's demeanor during scheduled interviews and presence or absence of documented violations will determine Fulford's next move.

His options include changes in the frequency of reporting dates, possible jail time, self-help meetings such as Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous, or writing a petition to revoke an offender's probation.

Sometimes all an offender needs is a little direction, Fulford said.

"We're mentors with a heck of a lot more authority," he observed.

If they violate the rules, offenders face additional court hearings and stiffer penalties, including prison.

"In psychology, the basic principle of discipline is correction coupled with pointing a person in the right direction, said Fulford, who doesn't shy from calling his brand of guidance "tough love."

"You have to have a healthy mix of compassion as well as a firm commitment to community safety."

But offenders must know that probation officers will violate them if deemed appropriate, Fulford said.

"Sometimes they're more surprised by the compassion part of it, sometimes I'm more surprised by the compassion part of it," Fulford said. "It's important to establish the correct balance."

Probation officers watch some offenders mature into productive members of society - something police officers don't always get to see.

"These are the times is makes you feel good to be a probation officer," said Fulford, who measures success in "a person's ability to comply with the conditions of their probation … and in the overall attitude of the person."

Fulford looks for signs: Does the offender have plans for the future, have an addiction and is getting help for it, recently lost a job, or generally look healthy and happy?

"We have a lot more authority over a smaller group of people as opposed to police officers, who have less authority over a larger group of people," said Fulford, noting that probation officers deal with people already found guilty and whose personal freedoms can be curtailed by court order.

"They have to live up to what the court orders, and it's our job to see that they do."

One man whose case Fulford manages called him one day, literally crying.

The man admitted to smoking marijuana and knew he had messed up, Fulford said, adding that 93 percent of offenders coming through the Montana Department of Corrections have one or more addictions.

"If you don't get a handle on that, oftentimes you're not going to get anywhere with their other problems," Fulford said.

But because the man didn't leave town, as he may have in the past, Fulford didn't toss him in jail or report his probation violation. Instead, Fulford told the man to attend three self-help groups per week, ordered him to report to the probation office weekly, and increased the frequency of his drug tests.

"I told him that I'm a firm believer in an ounce of prevention over a pound of cure," Fulford said.

Now Fulford calls the man one of his star pupils. The man is back with his family and on the right track, Fulford said.

"He calls me on a regular basis, whether he needs to or not," Fulford said.

Fulford, who worked as a police officer for 27 years before moving to the Probation and Parole Office, said he initially was concerned about a push from the Department of Corrections and Governor's Office to reform offenders in the community.

Probation officers seem to spend 75 percent of that time as social workers (giving advice and recommending treatment programs) and 25 percent as law enforcement officers - making arrests, conducting searches and inspecting homes.

"But I think you're going to see those scales tip as more and more people go into community corrections," he added.

Reporter Nicholas Ledden can be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at nledden@dailyinterlake.com