Chief probation officer back to work after investigation

“I’m excited to be back to work just because there’s a lot to accomplish,” he said. “I believe in what we do … I’m looking forward to getting back to it.”

Neal Taniguchi, the county court’s chief executive officer, previously said Keene was escorted from his Redwood City office in late December by county human resources officers, per protocol for employees under investigation. An administrator for the county court system to which Keene reports, Taniguchi previously declined to comment on the nature of the investigation when it was ongoing and could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Hired in 2013, Keene said he has strived to hold employees accountable for their responsibilities and acknowledged his approach may have marked a change from the way the department was led before he was brought on to oversee the department. Keene’s tenure began months after his predecessor, former probation chief Stuart Forrest, was arrested in late 2012 on child pornography charges. Forrest was eventually convicted on two counts and sentenced to 10 months in county jail, and was forced to register as a sex offender for life.

Keene pegged Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposal to dismantle the Division of Juvenile Justice in the California Department of Corrections and instead provide those services through government health and human services as a focus for him in the coming months. He said he also plans on repurposing the county’s juvenile hall to provide space for community-based organizations and also accommodate programs offered at Camp Glenwood, a structured residential program offered to high-risk young men in La Honda Keene said he plans to close by March.

Keene said he decided to move the services offered at the La Honda facility to the San Mateo-based juvenile hall in November in response to the dwindling juvenile population throughout the county and said he hopes the shifts can help the juvenile population re-enter schools and communities sooner and more effectively.

Keene said it was too early to say exactly how the changes may affect staffing levels in his department, but noted that with many employees reaching retirement age and the changing nature of his department’s work, he is bringing on an outside consultant agency to help him understand how the department is doing on staffing and how they can best navigate these shifts.

“I think there are some real questions about how much work is fair for an employee … I’m hoping to get that answered here in early spring,” he said.

anna@smdailyjournal.com

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