From ANewsCafe.com

Shasta Deputy Probation Officer Jim Schuette was recognized at the statewide 2022 Annual Chief Probation Officers of California Awards Ceremony as Regional Employee of the Year. This award is given to an employee of any rank selected by CPOC for meritorious service, significant contributions, career achievement among other reasons warranting recognition. Officer Schuette was also surprised at the end of the even with the CPOC California Employee of the
Year Award which is chosen from the 5 region employees of the year.

“It is an honor to recognize Jim Schuette for his commitment to helping improve the lives of justice-involved individuals, ” said Tracie Neal, Chief of Shasta County. “Mr. Schuette’s outstanding dedication helps deliver better outcomes and is vital to contributing to the safety of the community.”

Officer Schuette is also one of our department’s rangemasters, which means he helps train prospective armed officers as well as keep the skills sharp for all of those already armed. He plays a critical role  in preparing, training, and coaching our armed officers. These armed officers are often tasked in participating in mutual aid in times of crisis for our own community as well as other northern counties. 

“We are grateful for officers like Jim who showcase compassion and professionalism in all they do,” said John Keene, President of CPOC. “Probation officers like Jim play a key role in making probation the body of highly-trained and educated professionals it is today.”

This year in particular, Officer Schuette created a Juvenile Prevention Officer (JPO) bootcamp to train new and prospective JPO’s.  This training covered many of the circumstances officers would encounter while working on a school campus. It also highlighted many of the topics that make our JPO’s different from a traditional school resource officer. Our JPO’s were taught how to mentor youth, make referrals for services such as mental health/counseling, parenting programs, and youth outreach programs to just name a few.  The curriculum Officer Schuette created also covered how to create and implement school safety plans with school staff and how to calmly manage a school campus in times of crisis.