2006: A Year in Retrospect
The Massachusetts Probation Service’s Top 10 Stories

The Massachusetts Probation Service experienced a banner year in 2006 with events ranging from an increase in the number of fugitive apprehensions to the implementation of new programs to benefit the court-involved to a court visit from a royal family.

The following are the top ten stories that made Massachusetts Probation headlines:

1. Massachusetts Probation Service and State Police Partnership Results in Record Number of Fugitive Apprehensions:

The Interstate Compact of the Massachusetts Probation Service in partnership with the Massachusetts State Police’s Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section placed into custody and returned to the state triple the number of probation absconders and teenage runaways they had in the past. This increase in apprehensions can be credited to the dynamic new partnership forged between Probation and State Police to find and apprehend the state’s most violent criminals, including sex offenders, who temporarily escaped justice. Last year, close to 200 offenders were brought back to the Bay State compared to the 37 offenders and runaways apprehended in 2005.

2. Somerville District Court Helps Create Boxing Program for Court-Involved Youth at local Boxing Club.

Somerville District Court played a key role in the implementation of a Boxing Program at the Somerville Boxing Club where court-involved young adults participated in the sport of boxing and learned important lessons about self-discipline, nutrition and enhancement of physical health, according to Somerville District Court Chief Probation Officer Richard Antonelli. The program, a collaborative effort between the Probation Department and Somerville Public Schools, is funded by a three-year, $200,000 federal grant.

3. Probation Officers at the Mall.

Probation Officers from Suffolk, Norfolk and Plymouth counties joined forces with Braintree Police to patrol the South Shore Mall, the second largest mall in New England, to stop crime in its tracks. The 1.4 million square foot mall is the “single largest arrest location in town,” according to Braintree police. Since Probation Officers began patrolling the mall in the fall of 2006, Probation Officers have helped maintain order at the mall by breaking up fights between groups of teens and putting a dent in shoplifting activities. The P.O.’s recently assisted police in apprehending a shopper who financed a shopping spree with someone else’s credit card and prevented a thief from leaving the mall parking lot with thousands of dollars worth of stolen merchandise.

4. Opening of new Brockton Community Corrections Center.

The Office of Community Corrections recently opened a new center for adults in Plymouth County to service Levels three and four offenders. Currently, 50 male probationers and parolees receive services through the center. The center opened this summer.

5. New Uxbridge District Probation Officer Saves Colleague’s Life.

Last spring, Uxbridge District Court Probation Officer II Jose Morales was only on the second day of his new job when he rescued fellow Probation Officer Marc Segalla from choking to death. Morales, who used the Heimlich Maneuver, learned this skill during an American Red Cross training offered by the Office of the Commissioner of Probation’s Training and Development Unit.

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