Nearly two years after state officials embarked on parole-reform initiatives and agreed to spend more on operations, Colorado’s parole officers continue to say they’re overworked, underpaid and underappreciated.
A March survey by Colorado WINS, which represents state employees and is seeking to increase pay for parole officers, found widespread dissatisfaction among them.
About 82 percent of the parole officers surveyed said they were considering leaving their jobs. More than 90 percent surveyed said they did not believe they were compensated fairly.
The survey tracked responses from 77 community parole officers, nearly a third of the workforce. Most of those surveyed had worked as parole officers for 10 years or more.
“It is the intent of this survey analysis to shine a light on the internal anxiety within the division at the lack of support and respect felt by officers charged with keeping Colorado safe,” Colorado WINS said in a brochure with the survey results.
The survey follows in 2013 that found Colorado parolees had committed new crimes, used drugs and disappeared for months without getting sent back to prison. The newspaper uncovered 29 murder cases since 2002 in which parolees violated conditions of their release or committed a crime and were allowed to remain free.
In 2014, Gov. John Hickenlooper and the Colorado Department of Corrections million annually, a 20 percent increase, up to a total of $47.4 million. The extra money was intended to hire nearly 80 new employees, reduce caseload levels and pay for other reforms.
Tim Markham, executive director of Colorado WINS, said he gave the results of the survey to Rick Raemisch, executive director of the Colorado Department of Corrections, in July.
“We told him we wanted to work with him on these issues, but we’re still waiting on a response,” Mark ham said.
In a prepared statement, Raemisch said that two years ago the parole division began putting in place reform initiatives, which has helped drop the recidivism rate of parolees by 2 percent.
“The survey shows that the division continues to transition through a cultural change, and resistance to change is expected,” Raemisch said.
The survey also found that nearly 95 percent of those participating said they did not feel upper management truly cared about them. About 75 percent believed promotions were based on favoritism, and 74 percent believed their job was very dangerous.
Christopher N. Osher: 303-954-1747, cosher@denverpost.com or twitter.com/chrisosher
