Friday, August 26, 2005
I was out in the field making my monthly probation contacts at a boy’s ranch for delinquent teens yesterday. I had it in my mind to arrest one of the boys for a violation of probation, due to his on-going aggressive behavior towards female staff. I told the ranch clinician and social worker, that I wanted to see this young man last, because there was a possibility that I was going to arrest him.
While I was meeting with one of the other residents, a staff member interrupted the meeting to inform me that the boy I was considering to arrest was running away (AWOLing).
I got into my car (work car) and race down a dirt road, then across a dirt field to cut off the kid from his escape. When I got out of the car I told him to put is bag down.
He replied “No” and turned towards me, taking a combative stance.
He yelled “What are you going to do, Rush me?”
I pulled out my pepper spray and replied “No, I am just going to spray you, now put your bag down!”
At that point he didn’t want to play anymore, so he put his bag down and then wanted to shake my hand. He begged me not arrest him. I told him get in the car and that we would talk about it later.
I ended up not arresting him despite my better judgment. I let him remain in the program, only if he agreed to a program restart. I told him that I was going to give him one last chance and that this was a chance for him to start fresh; however, he was going to start with fresh with a program restart. He agreed and I guess we will wait to see if it works out.
When I got back to the office, I shared the story with Sally. She told me that sometimes, it’s the Probation Officer who is the only one who believes in the person, when no one else does. That in it’s self is the greatest agent for change, maybe more so than any treatment programs, therapy, and lectures.
Hmm….. Maybe I need to put more faith in to those who are on my case load.
Maybe they need me to believe in them, just like I need people to believe in me. Fortunately, I have people within in my life who do believe in me, wherein a lot of these kids dont.
While I was meeting with one of the other residents, a staff member interrupted the meeting to inform me that the boy I was considering to arrest was running away (AWOLing).
I got into my car (work car) and race down a dirt road, then across a dirt field to cut off the kid from his escape. When I got out of the car I told him to put is bag down.
He replied “No” and turned towards me, taking a combative stance.
He yelled “What are you going to do, Rush me?”
I pulled out my pepper spray and replied “No, I am just going to spray you, now put your bag down!”
At that point he didn’t want to play anymore, so he put his bag down and then wanted to shake my hand. He begged me not arrest him. I told him get in the car and that we would talk about it later.
I ended up not arresting him despite my better judgment. I let him remain in the program, only if he agreed to a program restart. I told him that I was going to give him one last chance and that this was a chance for him to start fresh; however, he was going to start with fresh with a program restart. He agreed and I guess we will wait to see if it works out.
When I got back to the office, I shared the story with Sally. She told me that sometimes, it’s the Probation Officer who is the only one who believes in the person, when no one else does. That in it’s self is the greatest agent for change, maybe more so than any treatment programs, therapy, and lectures.
Hmm….. Maybe I need to put more faith in to those who are on my case load.
Maybe they need me to believe in them, just like I need people to believe in me. Fortunately, I have people within in my life who do believe in me, wherein a lot of these kids dont.
