Barb Broderick had high hopes of following in her family's footsteps and becoming an NYPD officer.  Instead, certain circumstances propelled her into the community corrections field, a place she is happy she landed in.

As the Chief Probation Officer in Maricopa County, the community corrections veteran takes pride in witnessing offenders change, get their lives back on track and reunite with their families.  Recently, Broderick talked with The Corrections Connection Network News about what she likes best about her job and some of the challenges she faces in Maricopa County, Arizona.

Q: Have you always been interested in working in the community corrections field?

Broderick: I am from a family of police officers and I wanted to be just like my uncles and my great uncles and become a police officer for the New York City Police Department (NYPD).  Unfortunately, I got hurt [playing basketball and] I was medically disqualified from being a police officer, so all of a sudden I had to take a look [at another career].  I decided probation and parole was a good place to start looking and I made the decision to work for the state of New York with the Parole Division.

Q: What is your educational background?

Broderick: I have a masters in criminal justice from [what is] now the University of Albany.  I got it in 1975. 

Q: How did your career take off?

Broderick: I actually started with the Department of Corrections back in 1978.  There was a major philosophical issue going on - the Division of Parole had been assumed to be a part of the DOC and in 78 they decided that the executive branch would break these two agencies apart.  So, even though I started in corrections, I wound up in the Parole Division. I was on the policy side [in corrections] for a very long time.  Prior to that I actually was a director of a private security company for a big shopping center in Paramus, New Jersey.

Q: What sticks out in your mind about working for the Division of Parole?

Broderick: I guess my experience there was that I worked at a time when automation was actually just starting.  We used to have very large mainframes and things were done on docket books and a lot of change was going to happen with technology whether it was looking at how correctional facilities were maintained or the way we kept track of criminal histories, the way we kept track of caseloads.  It was kind-of at the forefront of being a very early organization that brought technology in, so it could do policy analysis based on data.  For a long time, my career has really been [based] around using information to assist decision makers in program design with legislation and in budgeting. 

Q: When did you make the move to Arizona?

Broderick: After working almost 20 years in the state of New York and living in Albany, I got tired of the snow and the cold and I wanted to move someplace where probation and parole was not under-funded.  And the place that actually was on the cutting edge was the state of Arizona.  I came in as the state director for adult probation.  I did that for about five years, working in the superior court, which in Arizona is the highest court, and then for the last five years, I have been the chief in [Maricopa County] - the largest probation department in the state.

Q: What are some of the challenges that you face in your current position?

Broderick: I think [one] of the challenges is trying to convince decision-makers to fund adequate substance abuse treatment for offenders.  [It is] also [difficult to] try to find qualified employees and get them reasonable compensation for their work.  One [challenge] is workforce development and the other is providing opportunities for people to change.

Q: What do you like best about your job?

Broderick: In all three places, [it] was the firm belief that the only way to get a community safer and healthier is by changing offenders and by providing folks with an opportunity to change.  The treatment providers that we use are just like teachers - those unsung heroes that really make our communities safer.

Q: What does it take to succeed in this field?

Broderick: Stay optimistic and don't lose sight of why you got involved in this job.

Q: Are you glad that you wound up in community corrections rather than police work?

Broderick: I am glad that it happened.  They are very similar jobs, except one [is] a little bit more balanced - you get to see the good side.  I actually can see people get on with their lives, have families, go to college and do great things.  I have watched more children be reengaged with their parents and that probably is the most humbling experience - watching children be healthy in the arms of their parents.  Sometimes, as a police officer, you wouldn't have that opportunity.