Juvenile Probation

Juvenile probation services are under the District of Columbia Superior Court, Social Services Division. Juvenile probation officers report to the court.

Juvenile probation officers do not carry a firearm. Officers in the District of Columbia do have arrest powers and hazardous duty status, as they are required to make late night curfew visits, conduct intensive supervision and electronic monitoring compliance.

There is no policy that prohibits officers from carrying a firearm, but carrying a firearm has not been an issue for these officers.

At the time of the survey, it was not under consideration to allow officers to carry a firearm.

There are no private companies providing juvenile probation supervision services in the District of Columbia.

Juvenile Parole

The Department of Human Services/Youth Services Administration’s Division of Social Services’ Bureau of Court and Community Services, under the executive branch, coordinates juvenile aftercare services.

The juvenile aftercare officers do not carry a firearm. They are not classified as peace officers and do not have the power to arrest or take into custody.

Aftercare workers are generally considered social workers and are not considered law enforcement and therefore they do not carry a firearm.

At the time of the survey, it was not under consideration to allow officers to carry a firearm.

There are no private companies that provide juvenile aftercare supervision services in the District of Columbia.

Adult Probation and Parole

Community Services and Offender Supervision Agency (CSOSA) was established within the Executive Branch of the Federal Government by the National Capital Revitalization and Self-Government Improvement Act of 1997 (referred to as the Revitalization Act). On August 4, 2000, CSOSA was certified as an independent Federal agency.

CSOSA assumed the probation supervision function from the District of Columbia (D.C.) Superior Court and the parole supervision function from the D.C. Board of Parole. CSOSA combined probation and parole supervision under a new category of law enforcement employee, the Community Supervision Officer.

The Revitalization Act required a substantial reorganization of criminal justice activities within the D.C. The intent was to have the Federal government assume responsibility for program services more traditionally provided by State governments rather than municipalities.

The Revitalization Act placed responsibility for the management of all convicted persons emanating from the U.S. D.C. Superior Court. D.C. code offenders granted parole, mandatory release or supervised release are also supervised by CSOSA.

There exists authority for the issuance of firearms to Community Supervision Officers (CSOs), but as a policy matter it has been decided not to arm CSOs.

There are no private entities that have the responsibility of supervising offenders in the D.C. ; all cases are monitored federally.

For updates or corrections to the information on this page, please contact: Diane Kincaid