Juvenile Probation Officer (JPO)

A Juvenile Probation Officer (JPO) is required to follow Arizona State court rulings and statutes and departmental procedures as well as Supreme Court precedence. The juvenile justice system is geared more to protection and support of the minors involved in the process than the adult criminal system. However, in a delinquency proceeding, a juvenile can be subject to deprivation of or limitations on their liberty, the same as adult defendants. Because of this, they have been deemed deserving of procedural safeguards such as notification of the allegations against the child, the right to counsel and the right to remain silent.
Some of these issues may arise while a JPO is supervising a minor. There may be instances where new offenses by the juvenile are
discovered. The juvenile may face incarceration for the acts. For example, a juvenile may be involved in a new offense such as a violent felony. The JPO may be the first to uncover the juvenile’s connection to such a serious crime and must be sensitive not to infringe the juvenile’s rights against self-incrimination when speaking with them. The JPO could obtain evidence that might later have to be excluded from consideration in a delinquency adjudication or trial if they were going to be tried as an adult. Any evidence that was obtained because of the “tainted” evidence would also be excluded as “fruit of the poisonous tree.”
The JPO should be sure the juvenile’s parent or guardian is aware of the allegations against the suspect as well as the child.
Minors are not considered to have the full capacity of an adult which is one of the reasons they are not allowed to enter into a binding contract with some exceptions.
A JPO will need to safeguard the rights of a juvenile when considering if a violation of probation has occurred. Prior to the detention of a juvenile, the JPO uses a detention risk assessment to determine if detention is warranted.
A juvenile suspect has to give a voluntary waiver of their rights after being advised of those rights before they are interrogated for an act that would subject them to the delinquency laws. Questions such as: was the minor of such an age they could understand the questioning. Considerations include how late was the questioning, how long did it take, did they think they were required to answer, that they had no choice or freedom to leave? What would a reasonable child have perceived?
JPOs must be aware that if a child is under 13, their statements are not admissible in delinquency proceedings. They can’t be fingerprinted or photographed for identification purposes without a court
order.
JPOs should contribute accurately and thoroughly to predisposition assessments which could be considered a procedural safeguard against an unfair or inappropriate result for a particular minor.