Probation Department Policy/Procedure Manual

4.17 Officer of the Day

Location Division Wide
Section N/A
Subject 4.17 Officer of the Day
Purpose Establish a procedure for the handling of incoming phone calls and in-person inquires at the front desk at the Juvenile Services Center requiring the assistance of an Officer of the Day
Effective Date 11/1/2018
Previous Effective Date

 

Overview

Incoming calls or in-person inquiries at the front desk at the Juvenile Services Center will be screened by the person working the front desk to determine the nature of the matter, the urgency involved and the manner in which the matter shall be directed for handling.  IF the matter is of an urgent nature AND an officer is either not assigned to the case or the assigned officer is unavailable, the matter will be considered an “Officer of the Day” (OD) inquiry and will be routed to one of the Division’s Supervising Deputy Probation Officers (SDPOs), Deputy Probation Officer IIIs (DPO IIIs), or the Chief Deputy Probation Officer (CDPO).  If none of those individuals are available, the matter will be routed to any available Deputy Probation Officer (DPO).

Specific Procedure

  1. OD matters shall be routed in the following manner/order:
    1. To the SDPO of the unit the matter is associated with
    2.  To the DPO III of the unit the matter is associated with
    3. To any available SDPO
    4. To the CDPO
    5. To any available DPO
  2. Front desk staff shall screen calls and in-person inquiries before determining them to be an OD matter.  Screening considerations include the following:  
    1. Reason for the call/inquiry
      • Media inquiries shall be routed to the Chief Probation Officer
      • Juvenile Hall inquiries shall be routed to ext. 5389
      • Collections inquiries shall be routed to ext. 5332
      •  Jurisdictional transfer inquiries shall be routed to the Court Unit SDPO or DPO III
      • Military check inquiries shall be routed to the Court Unit SDPO or DPO III
      • Persons requesting to speak to a supervisor shall be referred to the SDPO of the involved DPO or otherwise handled as an OD matter 
    2. Determining if there is an assigned DPO
      • If there is an assigned DPO, refer the call/inquiry to the DPO
      • If the DPO is not available and the matter is not urgent, take a message or transfer to the DPO’s voicemail
      • If the DPO is not available and the matter is urgent, handle as an OD matter 
    3. If there is no assigned DPO and the matter is urgent, handle as an OD matter
    4. If there is no assigned DPO and the matter is not urgent, take a message and consult with the Court Unit SDPO about further handling
  3.  When transferring a call or referring a matter to the OD, front desk staff shall inform the OD about the nature of the call in advance
  4. If front desk staff is unsure how to handle a call/inquiry, they shall consult with the Court Unit SDPO.  If the Court Unit SDPO is not available, they shall handle as an OD matter