The Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles celebrates National Pretrial, Probation, and Parole Supervision Week, taking place July 16 – 22, 2023. This week, we are recognizing the wide array of duties and services provided by the more than 780 officers, specialists and support staff of the Bureau, who work diligently to restore trust and create hope in Alabama communities.
Field Operations
The Field Operations division supervises adult offenders in a community setting. Officers display exceptional performances in 62 field offices across the state, consistently making their communities a safer place by keeping a close watch on justice-involved individuals. Officers complete home visits and contacts to ensure compliance with regulations in the community to ensure public safety. They also connect probationers and parolees with resources to help their rehabilitation back into society and prepare reports for the courts and the Board. Additionally, electronic monitoring ensures intensive supervision of high-risk, violent offenders and sex offenders.
In addition to normal supervision of offenders, field offices employ officers assigned to partner with both the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives Taskforce and the United States Marshals Service. The officers work daily with federal partners to ensure that the state’s most violent felons are taken into custody. The Bureau continually seeks partnerships across Alabama with other federal, state and local agencies to improve public safety. These partnerships with agencies such as ATF and USMS have resulted from the promotion of shared missions and goals.
The Bureau appreciates the efforts of field officers and employees as they work hard to build safer communities in Alabama.
Training
The Training division trains and coordinates all Bureau staff in mandatory agency classes, such as ORAS, Motivational Interviewing, Case Planning and Core Correctional Practices, and creates new agency classes like Field and Offender Contact and Tourniquet Training. The division coordinates all State Personnel training, which includes Sexual Harassment Prevention, Progressive Disciplines, Performance Appraisals, FMLA, Employment Law and Dynamics of Supervision.
The Training division is also tasked with placing new officer trainees into the state’s four Police Academies utilized by the Bureau. Academy training is 14 weeks long with a total of 560 hours, resulting in officer certification in the Alabama Peace Officer Standards. ABPP officers are also trained in Motivational Interviewing to help them better communicate with justice-involved individuals. Officers are also trained in how to recognize and properly respond to probationer and parolee mental health crises.
We appreciate the efforts of the training division as they work to keep Bureau employees professional and effective in their duties.
Special Populations
The Special Populations division provides a holistic approach to supervising offenders who are moderate to high risk by providing rehabilitative support services. It is the mission of ABPP to connect justice involved individuals with apprentice programs, ready to work programs, trades and other projects assisting them in becoming successful, employed, taxpaying members of Alabama.
In addition, special populations employees implement innovative strategies for the intensive supervision of high-risk offenders, violent offenders and sex offenders. Employees in the division deliver progressive supervision strategies in recidivism reduction, substance abuse, mental health stabilization, education and job training.
We have partnerships with the Alabama Community College System, Ingram State Technical College and private employers. These partnerships allow for a vetting process to ensure our justice involved population is prepared for the workforce. These programs and partnerships also support our effort in ensuring that employers are receiving quality candidates for employment.
The Bureau appreciates the efforts of special populations officers and employees in their innovative work of reducing recidivism and coordinating rehabilitative efforts in Alabama.
Reentry and Rehabilitation Programs
The Perry County Probation and Parole Reentry Education Program – or PREP Center – provides an opportunity for incarceration diversion and an option for justice-involved individuals to receive support services and resolve barriers to successful reintegration. The PREP Center provides reentry and rehabilitative programming to eligible participants from across the state. This program enables these individuals to complete programming outside of Alabama Department of Corrections general population, and ABPP workforce development concepts connect our supervised population to meaningful employment.
The Thomasville Regional Day Reporting Center provides moderate to high risk level, high need participants with supportive reentry resources to reduce recidivism and increase the participant’s likelihood to succeed in society post-incarceration. TRDRC services include paraprofessional cognitive behavioral therapy, mental health counseling, telemedicine, STD prevention (provided by Medical Advocacy and Outreach), and education and employment readiness (provided by Ingram State Technical College). The TRDRC provides successful programming achieved at existing DRCs to participants who lack supportive access in rural Alabama counties. We are appreciative of the efforts of the employees in these innovative locations.
Additional Divisions, Specialists and Support Staff
We recognize the additional operations and staff vital to the continued success of the Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles. Without the coordination of all divisions, officers, specialists and support staff, ABPP would not be successful in its mission of public safety and rehabilitation for all Alabama communities. Specialists are non-law enforcement employees working directly with officers to provide much-needed support for their administrative duties. Support staff serve the Bureau across many divisions, keeping our agency running statewide.
“The officers and employees at the Bureau of Pardons & Paroles continue to exceed expectations,” said Director Cam Ward. “Their dedication to public safety and reentry are on display every day through their hard work.”
Information on all ABPP divisions can be found on our website. Graphics containing data and additional information on Bureau divisions will be posted throughout the week on our social media channels. For more information on National Pretrial, Probation, Parole Supervision Week, please visit this link.