Mission Statement

 MISSION STATEMENT

We the staff of the Suffolk County Probation Department acknowledge that we serve in a dual role of community protection and client assistance. Our protective role entails community supervision of offenders and investigation of offenders prior to sentencing by the Court. In our client assistance role, we provide services to deal with family and community disputes. In our community supervision role, we monitor offenders while attempting to integrate them into a law-abiding society. We aid offenders (juvenile and adult) in identifying and resolving the problems contributing to their anti-social behavior. In this role, we provide a cost-effective alternative to jail. Our investigative role requires assessment of each case in a fair, objective manner in order to arrive at an appropriate dispositional recommendation. In order to accomplish this, we take into consideration that harm done to the community at large and the victim in particular and the circumstances of the individual facing sentencing by the Court. Our staff has an ongoing commitment to the development of new programs and better methods to improve our performance. We encourage adaptation of current practices to meet with new challenges. In our research and development activity, we strive to design and evaluate new programs which might prove of assistance in helping us to better fulfill our roles. We acknowledge that, to serve a changing society, we must seek out new solutions to the problem of criminal behavior in society while retaining our determination to meet the dual roles we are committed to serving.

Statutory Mandate: The Probation Department and all of the duties performed are mandated by New YorkState law. Section 256, paragraph 1 of the New York State Executive Law provides the general mandate for the establishment of county probation agencies. "Each county shall maintain or provide for a probation agency or agencies to perform probation services therein, including intake, investigations, pre-sentence reports, supervision, conciliation, social treatment and other such functions as are assigned to probation agencies pursuant to law."