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News  A historic moment in MPS: First Black female Probation Officer was sworn in 50 years ago today

Now retired, Denyse Bardouille reflects on her swearing in on October 15, 1975
10/15/2025
  • Massachusetts Probation Service

Media Contact

Coria Holland, Communications Director

Phone

Call Coria Holland, Communications Director at (617) 624-9319, CP: (617) 429-5629

Online

Email Coria Holland, Communications Director at coria.holland@jud.state.ma.us

Video: Meet Denise Bardouille

Skip this video Meet Denise Bardouille.
You skipped the video, Meet Denise Bardouille.

Fifty years ago today, Denyse Bardouille walked into Suffolk Superior Court to the flash of cameras and a press corp who were there to report on Ms. Bardouille’s historic swearing-in as the first African-American female Probation Officer (PO) in Suffolk County.

Ms, Bardouille, a tough but fair PO, supervised numerous high-profile cases over the years and left an important legacy for all Probation Officers past and present.

Check out a video on Ms. Bardouille above.

A newspaper clipping, article titled "First Black Woman in Probation Post"
Newspaper article on Ms. Bardouille. Photo credit: UMass Amherst, W.E.B. Du Bois Library

Media Contact

Phone

Call Coria Holland, Communications Director at (617) 624-9319, CP: (617) 429-5629

Online

Email Coria Holland, Communications Director at coria.holland@jud.state.ma.us

  • Massachusetts Probation Service 

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