No greater need: Proposed probation system overhaul is a must

On Friday Gov. Bev Perdue introduced her plan for an ambitious overhaul of the state's probation system. State lawmakers should get behind Perdue and pass the necessary legislation.

During the past year we at UNC have witnessed firsthand the problems with the probation system.

Both men charged in the shooting death of former Student Body President Eve Carson were supposed to be monitored by probation officers at the time of the alleged crime.

But one Lawrence Lovette had never seen his probation officer in person. The other man charged with first-degree murder James Atwater was under the purview of 10 probation officers in three years and went four months without being seen by anyone.

And in December further investigations by The (Raleigh) News & Observer revealed deep flaws in the probation system. About 13000 probationers were unaccounted for. Since 2000 580 probationers had committed manslaughter or murder. And in the meantime probation officers would customarily work with a double case load. These grim statistics seem to be what prompted Perdue to call for an overhaul.

Perdue's plan aims to fix these problems by mandating the hiring of 117 more probation officers. This will mitigate the number of probationers that each officer has to be responsible for. And to cope with the problem of attracting and retaining quality officers Perdue also plans to increase the salaries of current probation officers.

It is true that the overhaul comes with a large price tag. The legislature will have to spend $24.2 million over the next two years and $3.7 million will have to come from the federal stimulus package.

But if anything justifies spending that kind of money it's the reform of our probation system.

Perdue predicts that she will be resisted in the state legislature. Some lawmakers are understandably concerned that the overhaul may siphon money away from other programs.

But reform is direly needed. As we've seen this past year the dilapidated state of the probation system can lead to tragedy.

When these proposals come up for a vote state lawmakers should take a proactive step and pass the legislation.