Probation officers training set
Four trainors from U.S.-based Probation Parole Corrections Enterprise was tapped by the Division of Youth Services to share expertise on how the local juvenile probation system can improve its handling of case interventions and practices.
From Feb. 1 to 27, the team of law enforcement experts recommended by the California Board of Corrections will conduct an intensive 14-day course training for CNMI probation officers.
The workshop is anticipated to tackle officer safety, defensive tactics, information gathering, courtroom testimonies, and crises intervention.
Around 24 CNMI juvenile and adult probation officers will take part in the workshop. The participants, who will take part in separate morning and afternoon sessions at the Northern Marianas College and the Ada Gym, will be divided into two groups.
The training is expected to save the local agency a significant amount of funds as opposed to sending its officers to the mainland to undergo the same training, according to DYS Juvenile Corrections Unit Supervisor Sylvio Ada.
“This is in continuation to the training we started last year. We are even planning to organize an annual update training to always keep us on track of effective and most recommended intervention skills,” said Mr. Ada.
In May of 2000, three JCU staff underwent a juvenile justice training programs in San Diego, California. The four-day workshop was presented by the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges and the National Juvenile Court Services Association, the oldest and largest national judicial membership organization since 1937.
In August of the same year, Mr. Ada also attended a week-long probation officers training in Phoenix, Arizona. In the training, Mr. Ada was able to decipher the difference between the local and the mainland-style of handling probation cases.
He disclosed that a more stringent approach to handling juvenile delinquency cases may be needed in the CNMI. (MM)
