County's Probation Department Gets New Chief

The following is a news release from the County of Riverside:

Twenty-four years after beginning his career in the Riverside County Probation Department, Mark A. Hake has been chosen as the county’s chief probation officer. 

Hake, 47, has been interim chief since Alan Crogan retired in December. Previously, he was assistant chief probation officer.

In 1989, Hake was hired as a group counselor at Riverside Juvenile Hall, where he supervised minors, provided for their safety and counseled them when they were in crisis. He became a deputy probation officer two years later, then progressed through the department’s ranks to hold positions in detention facilities and working in field-services and administrative assignments.

Hake will oversee an organization with a budget of approximately $100 million. The department’s role in public safety has become increasingly important as California’s realignment program has shifted responsibility for detention and supervision of felons from the state to local jurisdictions. The chief probation officer is selected jointly by a committee that includes two Riverside County Superior Court judges and two members of the Board of Supervisors. Hake was sworn-in today (Thursday) in an informal ceremony. His salary and related information are expected to be included in a report presented for consideration at the May 7 Board of Supervisors meeting.

The Probation Department has about 1,100 authorized positions and three juvenile-detention facilities, two juvenile treatment facilities and a 100-bed juvenile treatment facility in development. Deputy Probation officers supervise about 15,500 adult offenders in Riverside County and about 3,200 juveniles. 

Hake serves as chairman of the Community Corrections Partnership Executive Committee, which is responsible for the development and implementation of Riverside County realignment plan. He has been responsible for coordinating department training programs, and he coordinated the submittal of a $35 million construction grant proposal and a management audit of the department’s client management data system.

He is a member of Riverside County Law Enforcement Administrators Association and an advisory board member for Community Connect, which coordinates volunteer services in Riverside County. Hake has taught departmental training classes in firearms, self-defense and tactics for conducting building entries and searches. Hake received his bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Riverside, in 1988. He is married and has four adult children.