Deshawn Snell joined 39 others June 26 as they graduated from the Basic Parole Agent Academy class 2-26P.
“I know all 40 of us are going to take what we learned in these past 13 weeks and apply (it) in our careers going forward. I’m very excited to graduate,” Snell said. “(Also,) I’m excited to take everything we’ve learned so far (and) put it into practice.”
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Snell is familiar with CDCR since he is a second-generation departmental employee. His father worked for 25 years at the Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison at Corcoran (SATF) as well as at California State Prison, Corcoran. He retired as a lieutenant.
His mother also recently retired after more than 25 years as a SATF vocational instructor.
“(My father) recently, unfortunately, passed away a little after his retirement, but he did live a great life. He always taught me to be firm, fair and consistent,” Snell said. “So, I definitely want to emulate him and just make him proud.”
Parents’ careers spark CDCR interest
He said he learned from his parents which inspired him to join CDCR.
“Learned a lot, and that’s what led me to want to pursue a career within the department myself,” Snell said. “Just understand people do mess up in life, but it’s on us to help them change and ultimately rehabilitate them. If they want the help and need the help, we need to be there to support them through their transition.”
Parole Agent III Justin Van Emmerik, an instructor at the parole agent academy, said he was impressed with Snell’s attitude and work ethic.
“You can tell the first day he showed up, he was determined to learn, and his personality characteristic was there that he knew why he was here,” he explained.
Snell previously worked for county probation.
“My time at probation definitely helped me and aided me in my learning, coming to parole. A lot of the things we did at county probation, we do here in state parole,” Snell said. “Different processes and different things that we need to do along the way, but I will say my probation time really helped me, just in terms of supervision, motivational interviewing (and) protecting the community.”
Many of the other agents in academy came from institutions, meaning they didn’t have Snell’s street experience.
“He really helped the students realize … what to expect on the street,” Emmerik said. “So, they haven’t been on the street yet.”
Snell said the varied backgrounds of his classmates meant they could see other perspectives.
“I do think that all of our experience has actually helped each other,” he said.
The class graduated June 26. (Read the story about the graduation.)
>> Learn more about becoming a parole agent.
Video by Richard Tan, Director, Television Communications Center (Supervisor)
Story by Don Chaddock, Inside CDCR editor
Office of Public and Employee Communications
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