The Coastal Empire is getting a new state parole officer following her graduation last week.
Officer Whittney Williamson of Lyons will be working the Savannah Parole District, said Steve Hayes, spokesman for the state Board of Pardons and Paroles.
Six others who graduated the Basic Probation/Parole Officer Training Course with Williamson will be working in other areas of Georgia.
The course consists of eight weeks of training on topics such as supervision techniques, investigation procedures, intervention strategies, Georgia law, policy and procedure, interview skills, physical fitness, arrest procedures, defensive tactics, computer interaction and firearms qualification as well as coursework on effectively mediating a crisis situation involving a person with mental illness.
The board employs 300 officers, and the average parole case load of offenders is 90, Hayes said.
Georgia utilizes a “virtual office,” which means the state’s parole officers are supervising offenders in the community full-time, Hayes said. The state vehicle is equipped with all necessary technology and officers no longer report to physical office locations, Hayes said.