CLEARLAKE— The community weekly event known as “the Judge’s Breakfast,” in Clearlake, presented the Chief Deputy Probation Officer Wendy Mondfrans this week to talk about the probation program in Lake County. The officer talked in length about the probation program in the county to an audience of approximately 30 participants.
According to the department, its mission is to continually improve the quality of community life by enhancing public safety, assisting victims with restoration and offering the hope of a more productive lifestyle for offenders.
Currently, there are around 70 to 80 minors and 1,100 adults in probation. These people are carefully supervised by the officers (for up to three years), having been released, coming out of prison or living under parole.
“We know that a person who needs to change won’t do it so if they don’t want to. Therefore, our officers are trained to try to encourage people to look at their lives and figure out what mistakes they made and to look for a different path”, Mondfrans said. “We’re not just about carrying guns, breaking in doors and arresting people; our job is to rehabilitate and to pursue a way to make them a part of the society,” adding that this is especially crucial in the juvenile division since these young offenders can get back on track and turn into productive adults. Mondfrans said prevention also plays a big part in it.
According to Mondfrans, last year, the most common charges that brought individuals to probation were: 273.5(a) PC (corporal injury, domestic relations); 11378 H & S (possession for sale); 2800.2(a) VC (attempt to evade police officer while reckless driving); 29800 PC (possession of a firearm); and 10851(a) VC (theft of vehicle).
The adult division is currently divided into three units: Investigation, Field and Program.
The Investigation unit job is to write all reports (40 to 60 a month) requested by the courts. They’re located in the main office, in Lakeport, with five officers and a supervisor in charge.
The Field unit is split between the probation offices. Four officers are based in Clearlake and the rest of the crew works in Lakeport. Their job consists of meeting with people on probation that are considered high risk to re-offend.
The Program unit provides transportation to individuals from South County, promotes educational and rehabilitation classes and focuses on working against substance abuse.
The overall local population supports that offenders who commit misdemeanors, petty offenses, minor crimes or nonviolent offenses get a second chance of redemption, as the officer states: “Whenever I interact with the community about our work, reactions are always positive. People are appreciative about what we do. We have the most amazing officers and they work hard to do the best job they can every day to help the offenders to change their lives for the better. Staff is dedicated and passionate”.
Moreover, the primary job is to make the public safe and to help victims. “Not only do we really write reports for the court, do we let the courts know about what the victims have lost and what they need, but we also make recommendations on what’s gonna make the community most safe”, concludes Mondfrans.
Officers in the Field Services Unit are located at 4477 Moss Avenue, Unit B, in Clearlake, or at the Day Reporting Center, at 1111 Whalen Way, Lakeport. These officers – a current total of 26 – supervise those on probation, post-release community supervision or mandatory supervision throughout Lake County.
Mondfrans said she is available to answer any questions or concerns the public may have through the email wendy.mondfrans@lakecountyca.gov.
