Parole Officer Salary

The most important job of a parole officer is to deal with criminals who are serving their sentences in jail. They also have to identify those criminals who have shown improvement in their overall behavior, and can be released from prison. Their average salary is believed to be decent, and can grow as they gain sufficient experience, and work with sincerity.

These officers keenly observe the behavior of people who are released on parole. First of all, they have to take utmost care to arrive to the conclusion, as to who are deserving, or are eligible for the same. They also make sure that the parolees follow all the rules and instructions stated before release.

They constantly keep a track of their overall progress, and ensure that they are not indulging in any kind of anti-social activities. In simple words, they help criminals to live a normal life, away from the world of crime.

It has been observed that even though criminals are paroled, they find it difficult to adjust with other people. Many of them are not accepted by society. These officers help them to earn respect and status in society by helping them get jobs to earn their living.

There are many parolees who are addicted to drugs, or consume narcotic substances. They can ask such people to seek treatment, and attend sessions to stay away from these addictions. They also have the power to cancel parole given to these people, if they are found violating any of the rules, or if they resort to crime again.

Since parole officers are required to analyze behavioral aspects of other people, they need to be well-educated and qualified. Mostly, those candidates who have completed their graduation in psychology, criminology, and sociology are selected for the underlying posts.

They are required to undertake rigorous training to achieve perfection in their tasks. Those who have done their Masters, in any of the aforementioned subjects, have much better prospects in the job market.

Their salary depends on their educational qualifications, years of practical experience, and the post at which they work. Senior level officers naturally earn more than the junior ones. The median salary is very decent as per job market experts; many of them have pegged it to be around USD 42,000 per year.

The annual pay scale can be around USD 32,000 at the time of joining. Slowly and steadily, they can expect a better pay scale, as per their performances. With few years of experience, earning more than USD 76,000 will not be a difficult task for them.