The Adams administration on Wednesday floated a “doomsday scenario” where probation officers would be called on to don riot gear and back up the police during the mushrooming protests against President Trump’s immigration crackdown, the Daily News has learned.
The officers would be equipped with riot gear and given training under a plan proposed in a Zoom meeting that included Probation Deputy Commissioner Tonya Cauley-Scott, according to Jake Oliver, a spokesman for the United Probation Officers Association.
Union President Dalvanie Powell immediately criticized the idea. She noted using probation officers for protest crowd control would be a first in her 38 years with the agency.
“That’s not our job, and it’s not what we signed up for,” Powell said. “Probation Officers are already stretched to the breaking point—struggling under severe staff shortages, overwhelming caseloads, and a department that continues to be mismanaged at every level.”
Powell added the city has failed to deliver on a promise to close the pay gap that exists for probation officers compared to cops, though a deal struck in August somewhat improved the margin.
“We are consistently treated as second-class public safety professionals, asked to do more with less while being paid less than every other law enforcement agency in this city,” she said.
Under the August deal, probation officers start at $61,386 and top out after 11 years at $81,000. Police officers start at $58,580 and reach $126,532 after just five years.
“Pulling Probation Officers into high-risk assignments completely outside our scope of work is dangerous, reckless, and insulting. This isn’t just a bad policy—it’s a crisis waiting to happen,” Powell said.
A City Hall official confirmed to The News the possibility was mentioned in a recent briefing with the Probation Department, but said it was extremely unlikely to happen. The official said probation officials were told it would only happen in a “doomsday scenario” where somehow NYPD wasn’t able to handle a protest on their own.
A similar message, the official said, was relayed to other civilian agencies with law enforcement arms.
Kayla Mamelak, a spokeswoman for Mayor Adams, confirmed the possibility of using probation officers to respond to protests was part of tabletop discussions Wednesday over various potential deployment options in extreme situations. However, she also said the administration was confident the NYPD could handle the protests.
Mass protests have erupted in New York and other cities across the country in recent days as the Trump’s administration ramps up efforts to target undocumented immigrants — including those without any criminal records — for deportations. Many protests have played out in front of federal courthouses, where ICE agents are targeting immigrants showing up for routine check-ins
Adams, whose federal corruption case was dismissed by Trump’s administration this spring, has refrained from publicly criticizing the president’s controversial crackdown.
On Wednesday, Police Commissioner Jessica Tish insisted the city would not need the New York National Guard to assist the NYPD. On Sunday and Monday, Trump ordered 4,000 members of the California National Guard and 700 U.S. Marines deployed to Los Angeles over the objections of that city’s mayor, Karen Bass, and Gov. Gavin Newsom.
According to reports, just a few hundred of the California Guards have actually been used. Newsom and Bass have insisted they were not necessary. Newsom filed a lawsuit Monday to reverse Trump’s move.
