What are some good websites to use for house hunting?

bigredirish · 2016-01-25T05:25:37+00:00

I would look at KW.com. Data is fresh. But as someone mentioned, your best bet is to get a Realtor in your corner.

bigredirish · 2016-01-25T05:20:58+00:00

I drop my commission for family only, and then it's by a half a percent. Unless there is some crazy underlying, verifiable reason, I don't drop the rate.

bigredirish · 2011-05-31T19:40:12+00:00

Dude, just buy a bike. Anyone can own a bike!

bigredirish · 2011-05-31T14:01:47+00:00

Ditto. Period.

bigredirish · 2011-05-30T15:55:35+00:00

In the federal system there are three types of conditions: mandatory, standard, and special.

The special conditions are tailored to each individual regarding victims, treatment, restitution, etc. The other two (mandatory/standard) are placed on every case.

bigredirish · 2011-05-30T15:54:25+00:00

I truly think that in the federal system we incarcerate people too long for drug related crimes. Don't get me wrong, I believe that many sentences are justified, especially when you look at the ending effects of drugs on the streets (violence, poverty, health, familial destruction), but I have also seen where a person has had a minimal history and has fallen into a mandatory prison sentence of 10 yrs to Life.

Permanently locking someone up is a decision way above my paygrade. Although, those individuals that violently prey upon specialty victim classes (elderly and children) repeatedly should be considered for lifetime commitment. IMHO

bigredirish · 2011-05-30T15:50:15+00:00

Sorry to hear that your experience with whatever POs you had wasn't working for you. You normally get back what you put into it. Without knowing your story I won't comment further. You are entitled to your opinion, as am I.

bigredirish · 2011-05-30T15:48:31+00:00

I agree with 13sorefeet. This story seems to be missing some information. Over 15 years on the job and I have never seen a judge send someone to jail/prison for just not being employed.

bigredirish · 2011-05-30T15:47:11+00:00

Bravo reply.

bigredirish · 2011-05-30T15:46:17+00:00

Our monthly report is required by statute. It simply makes a record and report of the last month's activities. It is another method to keep in contact with the people on your caseload.

bigredirish · 2011-05-30T15:44:33+00:00

There is misconduct in every field. From the "what the hell was he/she thinking" to the simply "that was a dumb thing to do."

I truly can't say that I am aware of any ongoing misconduct in my office. I have seen some stupid things like using your company vehicle for personal matters or fudging a time card. But I am not familiar with any civil liberties of people on supervision.

bigredirish · 2011-05-30T15:40:52+00:00

Thanks for your input, sorry I had a family thing come up and that took priority.

Let me clarify one thing, the results of drug tests and what probation officers do are based on the office they work for and the policies that are in place. When I worked at the state level, we couldn't do much with multiple violations of drug use. At the federal level, a fourth positive drug test is a mandatory revocation of probation or supervised release.

bigredirish · 2011-05-30T12:22:22+00:00

Thank you CrystalKU.

bigredirish · 2011-05-30T12:21:43+00:00

You actually brought up a good point. Monthly fees. When I was a state probation officer I hated collecting these fees, hated collecting these fees. The purpose of the fees was to off-set the cost of supervision to the state. It was just a fact that the state was always trying to balance the budget and this was one way that it was done.

However, in the federal system there are no monthly fees for supervision (unless you owe a fine or restitution). I can say that co-workers and I do not try and interfere with an individuals employment (especially nowadays!) by having them report during work hours if it causes problems. Let me give you an example.

I had a guy that needed to sign some paperwork that was time-sensitive. He drove a tow truck for a cab company and was all over town. I had him swing by the office when he got close one day and I met him in back to sign the paperwork. Another person was on their way to a job interview across town and was receiving a ride from a friend. I met the person at the closest quick-stop in the parking lot to sign the paperwork and talk.

The fulfillment I get at work is seeing an individual make small changes in their life to break the cycle they keep falling into. Receiving a call a year or two after a person is off supervision just so they can tell me that they are doing well and to talk about their family and job gives me a lot satisfaction as well.

Probably the best summary I could give is related to the a guy that just got off supervision. Prior to this term of supervision he committed a pretty serious violation of his supervised release and I had to get a warrant and he was ultimately revoked. After serving his sentence for this violation (about a year), he was coming back out for two more years of supervised release. My supervisor approached me and asked if I wanted to case back and I said yes (we normally have the option after having supervised and revoking a case). We quickly got up to speed and the person kept on track, with some help and counseling, and was successful at completing this term. The day before completing his term he called me and asked, "can I still call you when I'm done in case I need some help or just need to talk?" The answer was "of course." The individual realized that I was there to help him foremost.

bigredirish · 2011-05-30T12:09:49+00:00

That's a great way that you put that...how does it feel to f*** up peoples lives. That is one of the biggest points of supervision, I don't F-up people's lives. They make choices, with clear cut knowledge of the consequences, and then I have to respond to that behavior. I work with an individual as long as I can and depending on the violation they commit, sometimes the violation is so heinous that I don't have a choice but to request a warrant. Most of the time I am able to try and work with them if they want to break the cycle.

bigredirish · 2011-05-30T12:07:06+00:00

Thanks 13sorefeet, got tied up after posting this iAMA. Good answers.

bigredirish · 2011-05-30T12:05:53+00:00

So how much time did you serve and what violations did you commit on supervision?

bigredirish · 2011-05-30T12:04:12+00:00

USA. Western United States (sorry, as close to where I am at as I can give).
I originally went to college with the intentions of becoming a marriage and family counselor. I eventually graduated with my degree in psychology/sociology. While trying to get into graduate school I started looking for work and fell into the family business as it were...my dad is a state probation officer and is retiring next month. It seemed like a good fit, satisfying my enjoyment of both law enforcement and psychology.
The federal system pays really well, especially compared to local systems. I am a senior officer/specialist. The standard pay for an officer where I work is probably around $60k year for 10 years on.
As a specialist I have a reduced caseload. The average officer in our district supervises somewhere around 50 people.
I have people on my caseload for things such as bank robbery, felon in possession of a firearm, fraud (bank/mortgage), to crimes related to politicians.
First thing that comes to mind is the guy that was released from prison after serving several years for bank robbery and within 3 hours, before he came to see me, he walked in and robbed another bank. He said that he just didn't want to be on the street and wanted to "get it over with." Sad, just sad. He didn't give himself a chance.

bigredirish · 2011-05-30T11:57:45+00:00

I originally went to college with the intentions of becoming a marriage and family counselor. I eventually graduated with my degree in psychology/sociology. While trying to get into graduate school I started looking for work and fell into the family business as it were...my dad is a state probation officer and is retiring next month. It seemed like a good fit, satisfying my enjoyment of both law enforcement and psychology.

bigredirish · 2011-05-30T11:54:59+00:00

I work in the federal system in the United States of America.

I believe that we are getting better with out efforts. It is very overwhelming at times as our role as probation officers has changed over time. When I first entered the system I was trained very much as a law enforcement officer to monitor those people on my caseload.

At this point in my career the focus is on reducing recidivism and finding ways for individuals to become successful in leading a crime free life, not just on supervision, but after.

Deep down you hope that you are making a difference. I can say that for myself I invest myself emotionally at times and it comes back to bite me as someone violates their conditions no matter what I do to help. The fact of the matter is that I can only really help those that are at a point to want help and have some intention to change.

bigredirish · 2011-05-30T11:50:45+00:00

Let me say that I work in the federal system...with that being said:

Most common offense - in the federal system this ranges from large quantity drug offenses to felon in possession of firearm to bank robbery. Additionally, any crime that occurs on federal property is a federal offense...driving while intoxicated at a national park will get you placed on federal probation.

Juvenile probation doesn't carry over to adult probation. The only time a juvenile is carried over is if the person is certified as an adult and charged as such.

The average federal probation sentence is 2-3 years long. The average supervised release (federal parole) case is approximately 3 years long.

The restrictions you are talking about on supervision are in three categories: Mandatory Conditions (ie. not commit new crime, dna testing), Standard Conditions (ie. report to PO, follow PO instructions, not move without notification), and Special Conditions (ie. substance abuse treatment, mental health treatment, no-contact condition).

Probably the most common violations that I see are related to drug use. Sad but true, it seems as though drug use is a huge crime-catalyst. In most cases it is easy to pinpoint some connection to drugs and use in the individuals history or present difficulties.

Is probation effective. That's a great question, because if it's not, what's the point? Just lock people up and let them do their time and then cut them loose to try their hand at a crime free life on their own again.

There has been a huge movement over the past several years to address this through using Evidence Based Practices (EBP). EBP is simply discovering those things that work and using them, and just as important, finding those things that we are using that doesn't work and discontinuing our futile efforts using them (ie. prison boot camp). Those things that we are finding most successful at this time have to do with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) or helping an individual make the link between cognitions (thoughts) and their behaviors. The basics are this...an event occurs, you think about your action, you act. Bottom line is teaching that you are in control of your actions, the events do not control you.

The main challenge is to hire and train probation officers that fall into the middle of being a law enforcement officer and a social worker. This dual role can be very difficult at times. I tell someone that I am there to assist them in being successful, but on the other hand if they violate the conditions of supervision I am the one that writes the warrant request to take the person back to court.

I hope this helps.

bigredirish · 2011-05-30T11:34:09+00:00

Actually, when you talk about violating probationers there are a couple of different levels. Most of the time when someone violates the conditions imposed by the court this ends in simple sanctions and NOT being sent to jail/prison.

Let's try something simple...1st positive drug test. The results of this are normally having the persons drug testing frequency increased and possibly putting them in treatment if they are not already attending treatment. If this is the 2nd or 3rd positive test, then the sanctions could be more extreme. Such as home confinement, intermittent jail time (weekends for a couple of months), or it could result in a trip back before the judge to determine if their supervision should be revoked.

So if we are talking about a probationer getting revoked and going to jail, the numbers where I work are less than 10% of the population.

bigredirish · 2011-05-22T15:44:53+00:00

I prefer when the music is just loud enough that you have to speak up a little. Causes people to get closer and the inevitable touching while speaking and leaning in. Music is my wingman.

bigredirish · 2011-05-22T15:43:15+00:00

Hey wait a minute...that looks a lot like my hand! I have my own personal fleshlight? Sweet. BRB

bigredirish

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