The Colorado Department of Corrections, Division of Adult Parole is divided into regions with offices located across the state. Denver, Colorado parole officer jobs are found in the division’s Denver Metro Region, the Western and South Metro Region, and the Parole/Community Corrections Headquarters. Offices for the Division of Adult Parole’s Community Parole Sex Offender Program and Interstate Compact are found in Denver as well.
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Falling within Denver’s regions are field parole offices located in the cities of:
- Craig (with supervision over Routt, Rio Blanco, Moffat and Eagle Counties)
- Grand Junction (which supervises the counties of Pitkin, Ouray, Montrose, Hinsdale, Gunnison, Garfield, Mesa and Delta)
- Durango field office (supervising parolees in San Miguel, San Juan, Montezuma, La Plata, Dolores, and Archuleta Counties)
- The Lincoln Office (supervising parolees in the counties of Littleton, Golden, Lakewood, Aurora and Denver County, as well as the city of Denver)
Education and Experience Necessary to Become a Parole Officer in Denver
For those interested in parole officer jobs in Denver, some prior education and experience are required. The Colorado Department of Corrections prefers that all applicants have at least a bachelor’s degree in law enforcement, criminal justice, business or human behavior. If an applicant has experience in social work, law enforcement or counseling, however, this may be substituted on a per-year basis for a bachelor’s degree (that is, one year of experience equals one year towards the bachelor’s degree, so four years of experience would negate the degree requirement).
Parole officer jobs in Denver are listed at COJobs. A link to apply online for open parole officer jobs in Denver will be found at this website as jobs become available.
Training for Parole Officers in Denver
All Denver parole officers must be POST-trained, ideally before applying to become a parole officer in Denver. This means that they must possess a Colorado Peace Officer Standards Training certificate. This involves passing a written exam, interview, physical and psychological exams, lie detector test, drug test and physical agility testing.
Once hired, to become a parole officer in Denver through training, new parole officers are expected to complete the Colorado Department of Corrections Basic Training Academy in Canon City, lasting about a month. New Denver parole officers must also receive training in the usage of firearms, first aid/CPR and self-defense techniques.
Denver parole officers must compete 40 hours of continuing education training per year in order to keep their jobs. They must also take courses as necessary to maintain their firearms, CPR and self-defense qualifications.
Denver’s Parole System in the News
In March 2013, the Denver Post reported that a parolee had killed the executive of the Colorado Department of Corrections. Investigations after the murder found that the parolee had removed his electronic monitoring bracelet before traveling to murder the director and others before being killed himself in a Texas shootout. It was reported that parole officers in Denver had heavy caseloads and had failed to notice the alert issued when electronic monitoring bracelet was removed until five days after its removal.
The Colorado Department of Corrections is now thoroughly investigating the Division of Adult Parole and processes used by Denver parole officers, to make sure that an incident like this never happens again.