wicki_

Hmm. I was on probation for a little bit when I was 17. I was always a good kid, never got into trouble, but I acted out and shop lifted a few times. Even my probation officer kept asking me "WHY are you here? You're a good kid! Good grades, parents don't know what's going on with you. You don't belong here!"

I wish I could remember his name. I'd like to find out if he's still working and go back to let him know I've kept my nose clean and that, although my life isn't perfect, I've stayed out of trouble. I bet he doesn't get a lot of thank yous.

Do you feel like your job is under-appreciated and thankless? Do you have moments where you impact a positive change in the people you work with that makes it all worth it at the end of the day? Are those good moments a rarity? Thanks for what you do, and please keep up the good work! If I hadn't had that intervention all those years ago my life may have turned out very differently.

Thank you again for the help. I happen to live quite near to my township's municipal and police building, so I could probably go there in person and ask about this.

I would like to go back and find out if that PO is still working there, but I've no idea what his name was and, as I understand it, I'd likely have to pay some fees to access my old records in order to find out the guy's name in the first place. Perhaps it'd be worth it, though, as I'm pretty sure almost everyone he's worked with hasn't improved much over these many years (Believe me, I saw them and spoke to some of them!)

There is an officer whose name I recall, who had really helped me out a few years ago, and I had been meaning to go back and find out if I could speak with him to thank him. I'm also fairly certain no one has ever come back to him to say "THANKS!"

If you've any suggestions on how I can go back to my town's municipal/police building to find these things out I would very much appreciate it. I know that Parole/Probation officers and Police officers in general often feel that they work a thankless job :(