San Benito County’s new Chief Probation Officer Ted Baraan is an Oakland native who grew up among friends teetering on the edge of trouble. Some grew up to be police officers, and others went to state prison.
“I made some very critical decisions at some very critical points and junctures in my life that kept me from doing that,” said Baraan, who credits his parents for setting him on the right path.
When Baraan took the reins of the San Benito County Probation Department in late April – nearly three months ago – he became the third chief officer to take control of the department in about a year and a half.
“At this point, the staff are extremely eager,” Baraan said. “They want to move things forward.”
In accepting the new position, Baraan left behind Alameda County where he was born, attended high school and college, and spent 18 years in the county’s probation office.
In Alameda County, Baraan served a population of 1.4 million people, including about 17,000 adult felony offenders. In San Benito County, the population is about 57,600, and there are about 600 juvenile and adult offenders.
“This is a little different for me,” Baraan said, as he reflected on his new surroundings. “I wasn’t used to cows.”
But it’s this same small-town, community-based environment that sold Baraan on the job.
“People want to do stuff,” Baraan said. “The staff, the community even, they want San Benito County to be better.”
Earlier this month, Baraan worked at the Hollister Rally all three days – something that might not have happened in a larger office, he said. It brought him closer to the hands-on work that first got him into the profession.
Given the smaller scope of this county, he also is part of the unit working with juvenile hall.
“This really brings me a lot closer to the work that I had done for all those years as a line deputy, as a juvenile institution officer,” he said. “In some ways, it’s like coming home.”
Baraan’s corner office desk holds just a computer, a water bottle, a notebook and a phone. The wall facing his work space, though, holds a framed selfie photo of Baraan with Hollister Police Chief David Westrick in front of rows of Hollister Rally motorcycles – a tangible reminder about one of Baraan’s first uniquely San Benito County events.
As Baraan moves forward in his new position, he plans to work especially hard to implement “evidence-based practice” throughout his department – a movement that began in the medical field and uses research-based data to define workings and procedures in a field of study.
“In the short term, we can always do suppression and we can always do controlling strategies and controlling behavior. But, statistically, over 90 percent of people that are incarcerated are going to get out,” Baraan said. “So what are we doing to prevent them from engaging in criminal behavior again? Is there something that can be done?”
For Baraan, the answer in San Benito County is his probation office, where officers supervise offenders with the hope that parolees can become productive, non-criminal members of society.
“That’s my job – to reduce crime,” Baraan said. “ I am a peace officer of this state and at my core, my job is to protect the public. The long-term way to do that is to change someone’s behavior so that they no longer commit crime, so that they are no longer a danger to the community.”
