I Was A Probation Officer For 20+ Years — This Is The Dark Side Of The Job | Paul Collette

Locked In with Ian Bick

Ian Bick

Society & Culture

4.8 • 743 Ratings

🗓️ 31 December 2025

⏱️ 120 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Paul Collette spent years working inside the criminal justice system as a New York probation officer before leaving to become a federal probation officer. In this episode, Paul pulls back the curtain on what probation really looks like, sharing real stories from the job while breaking down the biggest myths and truths the public gets wrong. He talks about supervising violent criminals and sex offenders, handling high-risk situations, and the daily pressure of balancing public safety with rehabilitation. From the differences between state and federal probation to the realities of working with dangerous individuals, this conversation offers an unfiltered, insider look at life behind the badge and what it truly means to work inside the probation system. _____________________________________________ #ProbationOfficer #CriminalJustice #TrueCrimePodcast #LawEnforcementStories #PrisonSystem #JusticeSystem #BehindTheBadge #realcrimestory _____________________________________________ Connect with Paul Collette: https://sapservicesct.com/about Hosted, Executive Produced & Edited By Ian Bick: https://www.instagram.com/ian_bick/?hl=en https://ianbick.com/ Shop Locked In Merch: http://www.ianbick.com/shop _____________________________________________ Timestamps: 00:00 Intro: Supervising High-Risk Offenders on Probation 02:00 Meet Paul Collette: Life After 20+ Years in Probation 05:00 Therapy, Family & Rebuilding After Law Enforcement 07:00 Growing Up in a Military Family & Constant Relocation 11:00 Early Influences That Shaped His Career Path 14:00 Social Work vs Law Enforcement: Choosing Probation 17:00 First Jobs & Breaking Into the Probation System 20:00 Becoming a New York Probation Officer 24:00 The Reality of Probation Work: Stress, Risk & Responsibility 29:00 Probation Officers vs Police: Power, Authority & Limits 33:00 Supervising Dangerous Offenders: Daily Risks on the Job 38:00 Empathy vs Enforcement: How the Job Changes You 40:00 Transitioning From State to Federal Probation 44:00 Inside Federal Probation: Reports, Caseloads & Pressure 48:00 Judges, Sentencing & the Flaws in the Justice System 53:00 How Much Power Does a Probation Officer Really Have? 58:00 Transfers, Burnout & Career Turning Points 01:02:00 Becoming a Federal Sex Offender Specialist 01:09:00 Supervising Sex Offenders: Monitoring, Limits & Reality 01:17:00 Recidivism: Why the System Struggles to Prevent Reoffending 01:23:00 Restitution, Supervision & Overlooked System Details 01:28:00 Cooperators, PSI Reports & Prison Outcomes 01:34:00 Mental Health, Trauma & the Hidden Cost of the Job 01:41:00 Why He Finally Left Probation After 20+ Years 01:48:00 Advice for Returning Citizens & People on Supervision 01:53:00 Life After Probation: Therapy, Teaching & Helping Others 01:57:00 Final Thoughts on the Justice System & Closing Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	High-risk offenders were the ones we needed to be focusing on. Organized crime, sex offenders, the violent offenders, the people that are actively involved out there hurting people. In those conversations, how hard is it to leave your emotions out of it? If you had told me this that when I was in college, that I was going to be looking at men's weeners all day, I would have laughed and run screaming from the room. Do you find that the judge has already
0:21.3	reached a decision before sentencing? One time my partner and I were walking in and I realized,
0:25.9	oh shit, somebody's shooting at us. So say you're supervising me, I get pulled over by the state
0:30.9	police. How long is it take for them to notify you? I've never seen an SO, a sex offender,
0:35.8	rehabilitate. Tell us about the toll the job takes on you.
0:38.7	Paul Collette spent years supervising violent criminals and sex offenders, and the public has no
0:44.0	idea what probation officers actually deal with.
0:50.1	Paul, welcome to Lockton. Thanks so much for coming out here today. We just had a snowstorm last night in Connecticut.
0:55.7	Thanks for inviting me, Ian.
0:57.0	I was worried I was not going to get here.
0:58.9	But you know what?
0:59.5	The roads, they did a great job.
1:01.3	And I was actually lost some sleep last night.
1:04.0	I was really excited about coming in today.
1:05.9	Awesome.
1:06.7	Well, I appreciate it, man.
1:07.8	I think you're our very first federal probation officer, former federal
1:11.3	probation officer. We've had state ones. How many guests have you had? Hundreds. Over 500 now. Over 500. Yeah, we just celebrated the 500th one a couple weeks ago. I had my girlfriend, Lettie Sean. Thank you. Well deserved. How long have you been listening to the show for? About a year and a half. I listen to a, I have a lot of podcasts locked and loaded
1:28.7	on my Spotify account. And you know how the algorithm, like you listen to one and it shows you
1:33.6	you might be interested in. And you popped up. And I remember if the first, I first saw your
1:39.9	podcast and I was like, oh, this is another. And I'm just, all due respect, I thought, okay,
1:45.7	here's another ex-felon who's just going to be interviewing ex-felons. And then it was like,
	...

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