Mass supervision Probation, parole, and the illusion of safety and freedom

Former New York City Probation Commissioner Schiraldi debuts with a captivating account of the history and current state of criminal supervision in the U.S. Parole and probation were both created in the 19th century, the former as a way to grant early release to inmates who had displayed good behavior and the latter to keep convicted people out of prison altogether. Over the course of the 20th century, both morphed into a law enforcement tool of surveillance and a main cause of incarceration, according to Schiraldi, who notes that parole and probation violations now account for nearly half of all people entering prison in America. Schiarldi describes how people under criminal supervision experience it as a kind of torture due to the stress of constantly worrying about check-ins--some have even chosen to go back to prison instead of living with it--and much of the book details the negative impact mass surveillance has on the Black and brown communities it disproportionately targets. He focuses on Philadelphia, where a 2014 study showed that recidivism due to supervision violations was correlated to how vigorously people on probation were supervised, not the severity of their original crimes or misdemeanors. Drawing on his own attempts at reforming the system in New York (involving nonprofits to provide rehabilitative services for supervised individuals and drastically reducing the number of supervision violations issued), Schiraldi provides valuable insight for activists. This astute and accessible study illuminates a vital yet understudied topic. (Sept.)

Disturbing analysis of the little-understood, long-calcified systems of probation and parole. Schiraldi, the probation commissioner for New York City under former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, had previously administered youth correction services in Washington, D.C., so he's familiar with the hidden costs of bureaucracies engendering an illusion of safety. The author's core argument is grim yet undeniable. Despite hopeful origins, the concept of mass supervision "morphed into a trip-wire into incarceration for millions of people who are not really free the way the rest of us not under supervision take for granted." The author makes his case in eight well-organized chapters, moving from supervision's history through key subtopics including racial bias and insidious movements toward privatization, which profit off the vulnerable. "The mission of an early probation advocate was that of a challenger to the status quo," writes Schiraldi, and it was frequently viewed as a mechanism for being soft on crime. Yet "by 1930 all states had parole," beginning an era the author characterizes as a "stew of optimism and paternalism." By the 1970s, this rehabilitative tendency was replaced by a punitive backlash based on flawed academic conclusions that "nothing works," and mass incarceration exploded. Indeed, many Americans now become incarcerated due to "non-criminal, technical violations" of probation rules. Schiraldi explores the impact on families and on communities of color--including flashpoints like the infamous case of hip-hop artist Meek Mill in Philadelphia--and how a persistent lack of funding has increased reliance on privatization and fee-based supervision, further impoverishing those ensnared in the system. He concludes by advocating for "approaches to both downsizing and completely eliminating community supervision," essentially through "collective efficacy" beyond law enforcement, while noting that "jurisdictions that have substantially reduced supervision have not suffered increases in crime." Schiraldi writes with compassion and an experienced eye, although his argumentative points are occasionally generalized or repetitive. An expertly developed contribution to progressive debates on civil liberties and imprisonment. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.