Beto Consults With British Officials

Dan Beto

British probation officials attending this meeting were: Eithne Wallis, director of the National Probation Service for England and Wales; John Stafford, chief officer for the Merseyside Probation Area; Liz Hill, chief officer for the Essex Probation Area; and David Perry, director of the What Works Initiative for the National Probation Directorate.

Other noted experts from the United States, who were called in to offer their views on the delivery of probation services, included Ronald P. Corbett, Jr., executive director of the Massachusetts Supreme Court and Gerald R. Hinzman, director of the 6th District Department of Correctional Services in Iowa. Also participating in the meeting was John Evangelista, assistant commissioner of the New York City Probation Department.

Beto, Corbett, and Hinzman are members of the Reinventing Probation Council, a group of community corrections professionals � organized by the Manhattan Institute � who advocate a rational approach to the delivery of probation services, where public safety, offender accountability, and meaningful treatment are emphasized.

"In the past it has been my observation that probation practices in Great Britain have been about ten years behind those found in the United States," Beto said. "However, with the creation of the National Probation Service this past April, a strategic agenda that balances enforcement, rehabilitation, and public protection, and a commitment to employing those practices supported by research, it is my sense that our British colleagues have taken the lead.

"It is gratifying to note that Great Britain has adopted many of the strategies advocated by the Reinventing Probation Council. If successful in their reinvention efforts, our British colleagues could well create a model probation system worthy of replication in other jurisdictions," Beto said.

Prior to becoming director of the Correctional Management Institute of Texas in 1994, Beto devoted over a quarter of a century to the probation profession. He is a past president of the Texas Probation Association and currently services as president of the National Association of Probation Executives.

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SHSU Media Contact: Julia May
Oct. 29, 2001
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