The street vibe

Mass Supervision offers not only a comprehensive critique of probation and parole in the US but also a provocative and compelling argument for abolishing both. Imagine if probation didn't exist!

This really pushed me into thinking afresh of a client for whom probation was perhaps an ill-suited sentencing option but ended up on my caseload.

I recall supervising Vin (not his real name) as someone who left an abiding impression, as his street survival skills left him able to live (in spite of offers of accommodation) homeless for extended periods of time.

He first came to my attention perched imperiously on fading cushions outside a well-known fringe theatre conveniently near to where the probation office was located(now closed), begging with the weathered charm of a aged supplicant.

“Surely you can afford a fiver”, he piped up as I awkwardly shuffled around for loose change!

Not long afterwards he was in the office for the preparation of a pre-sentence report for threatening words and behaviour arising from what he perceived as a “tight b*****d” unwilling to dispense largesse. The begging offences also needing addressing for the court as he was accumulating a rising level of indebtedness due to non-payment of fines.

I was pleasantly to discover that I was in his favour for my “prompted” generosity when we met outside the probation office and Vin appeared unflappable in his delivery. “You might be my probation officer”, he quipped.

At the time, report writers invariably retained supervisory responsibility for any court order. His history suggested a pattern of offending linked with begging, for which he was unapologetic.

“I fell out with my family ages ago and like the street vibe so why should I give it up?”.

His financial situation was parlous and as such needed some intervention to resolve. I flagged up assistance via a financial advisor who attended the probation office and could assist via what was a more frequently-used mechanism of support at the time: a Money Payment Supervision Order (MPSO).

But I assessed that a conditional discharge would be an appropriate penalty, in light of Vin’s behaviour. His colourful resort to foul language was very much a part of his persona. However, the court opted to place him on a short (six month) probation order with an MPSO attached.

Predictably, Vin’s reporting was patchy. His begging patches often meant he would be in place across London, so he could enjoy some “rich pickings”.

I stayed breach proceedings, as he did attend the meeting with the financial advisor and some measure of stability appeared to be inserting itself into his life (no substance misuse was identified but this was, I sensed, underplayed).

When I did meet him it was outside a prominent West End Hotel, where he sat outside with a proprietorial air. “Mike, can you put this down as a reporting”, he quipped, with a mischievous grin.

The order tottered along and he turned up at the probation office at odd times, but his resilient attitude stood out. “Don’t call me a vagrant”, he told me once. “I am begging as this suits me”.

Remarkably, although often times he clashed with members of the public ill-disposed to offer him money, he said he had toned down his language until his period on probation was over

The order expired with only a court date to ascertain how the MPSO was working. This order outlived the probation term and as such was a very helpful adjunct of assistance.

I occasionally spotted Vin outside some fashionable outlet and once I waved to him across a busy street. His thumbs up was perhaps his way of saying goodbye and I am doing what I want to do, for now.

In Mass Supervision, Schiraldi refers to ‘Fear Probation’, an approach prevalent in many US probation offices: risk averse and violation prone (often with financial incentives) for returning clients to prison.

Would Vin be on the caseload here in today’s probation service? Maybe not. He often gave off a purple soliloquy to his unappreciative public. But when you got to know him better you sensed his potential was awaiting its day and just maybe probation may have at least tilted him in seeking it out, “when my order has finished”.

Mike Guilfoyle is a retired probation officer.