[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 31 (Thursday, March 11, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E341]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 TRIBUTE TO RAYMOND B. WINGERD, SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY CHIEF PROBATION 
                                OFFICER

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JERRY LEWIS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 10, 2004

  Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I would like today to pay 
tribute to Raymond B. Wingerd, who is retiring after 36 years of public 
service in the San Bernardino County Probation Department, helping 
those who have paid their debt to society return to a normal life.
  Just months after his graduation from Upland College, Raymond Wingerd 
joined the county probation department as a Probation Officer I, and 
with the exception of an 18-month stint as a teacher in Zimbabwe, has 
been with the department ever since.
  Showing promise as a manager of others, Wingerd moved up to a 
supervising probation officer in 1972, and 5 years later to assistant 
director of the juvenile division, managing the intake, investigations 
and transportation sections. He was named a year later as Director of 
Special Services, overseeing the department's community resources, 
training, victim advocacy and work sentencing programs. One year after 
that he became director of the department's Verdemont Boys Ranch, a 
long-term program that focused on family counseling to help troubled 
youths turn their lives around.
  In 1982, Wingerd was promoted to be the Division Director in charge 
of Juvenile Hall, three residential treatment institutions, clinical 
services and food services for 400 delinquent youth. By this time, he 
was managing 300 employees and handling an $11.7 million budget. He 
became the Central Services Division Director in 1988, overseeing adult 
and juvenile court investigations and field supervision of 4,000 
offenders.
  Raymond Wingerd was named Chief Probation Officer for the county in 
1994, overseeing a staff of 1,200 and a $98 million annual budget, and 
has served in that position until his retirement. During his tenure, 
Chief Wingerd has led the planning and construction of new juvenile 
facilities in the county's West Valley and the High Desert--
decentralizing and modernizing the department's approach to juvenile 
detention.
  During his years in top management in the department, Chief Wingerd 
has helped create a series of youthful offender programs that have seen 
many innovative programs put in place in San Bernardino County. The 
department partners with county schools and the U.S. Forest Service to 
provide a 90-day intensive outdoor work program as an early 
intervention resource. The Youth Justice Center brings together 
schools, probation, public, and mental health and community-based 
organizations to provide a day-reporting program for youths on 
probation--a model used by the state legislature to create a statewide 
program. There are now 12 Youth Accountability Boards made up of 
citizens who help make dispositional decisions for first-time 
offenders.
  The National Association of Counties gave national recognition to two 
projects created by Wingerd in the 1980s: A Regional Youth Education 
Facility with 40 beds, and a wilderness diversion program designed to 
keep troubled youth out of the justice system.
  Throughout his career, Chief Wingerd has been active in probation 
officer groups, serving as president of the Chief Probation Offices of 
California in 1998 and 1999, and most recently as a Probation Committee 
Member of the American Correctional Association. He is a board member 
of Everest College and San Bernardino Communities Against Drugs.
  Mr. Speaker, the dedication of Chief Raymond Wingerd continues to 
this day, as he has agreed to continue his service as interim chief 
until a new head of the department can be recruited. Please join me in 
thanking him for his many years of public service and wishing he and 
his wife Linda well in their future endeavors.

                          ____________________