Exercising Caution in Probation and Parole: Strategies to Enhance Officer Safety

Exercising Caution in Probation and Parole: Strategies to Enhance Officer Safety is proudly presented to you by CEQ American Probation and Parole Association. Thank you. We hope that you enjoy your course.

Each day, community supervision officers are exposed to various situations that can potentially affect their safety.  Evidence-based practice consistently reinforces the need for officers to see the individuals they supervise not only in the office but in the field and at the person’s home to accurately monitor their progress and network with family members and community resources.  Whether you work in an urban or rural area, in performing these functions, hazardous situations may occur.  It may not happen to you today or tomorrow, but chances are that sometime during your career a situation will arise that will cause you concern as to your ability to go home at the end of the day.

In this course, you will be introduced to concepts and tactics that will enhance your ability to stay safe on the job.  You will be given facts about what types of hazardous situations are most likely to occur and given options on how to respond.  No one tactic works in every situation. Thus, you must be able to accurately assess the situation and respond in a manner that is both legally and tactically reasonable.  You will be presented with interactive exercises where you will be asked to make decisions regarding how to safely respond, and those decisions will be discussed.

Learning Objectives

After taking this course, you will be able to:

• Identify four considerations when approaching a residence.


• Explain how to set up an office to maximize your safety.


• Discuss the “reasonableness” standard in any use of force.


• List three techniques in defending against dog attacks.