A day in the life at the Directorate for Communitarian Crimes from Moldova

Hello, my name is Guriev Mircea, I am working at the National Probation Inspectorate since 2019. In 2020, I was appointed as the head of the Directorate for Communitarian Crimes within Probation Office Chisinau, a subdivision of 10 employees. The subdivision I run handles the enforcement of penalties in the form of unpaid community service.

Start of the work day

My day begins at 6.00 a.m., I usually prefer to get up with a clear head 2 hours before the work begins. At 7.30 a.m. I am in the office, therefore I have a half an hour to plan my day. In the morning is the best time to take good decisions, every day I get to work, I make a list of all the tasks of the day. A well-planned day will bring good results.

At 8.00 a.m., I hold a briefing for all advisors and inform them about the tasks we have ahead and the newly received requests. The decisions taken by the team during the briefing are set to achieve the best possible results; all have the right to express themselves. In the meantime, I receive the correspondence from chancellery and after analysing them, I assign the documents to the advisers depending on their competence and expertise capabilities. After that, I begin the tasks I set myself. Every document brought in for signing is carefully analysed and after that co-signed by myself. I prefer when the text is nicely arranged and does not contain grammatical errors.

In course of the day, many requests are made by institutions where convicted persons can carry out their criminal punishment by serving a community service. Some need workers in construction, others need skilled labourers and some will be happy for any kind of worker. In the Chisinau municipality there are 33 institutions for social purposes where the condemned carry out their punishment, institutions as educational establishments, kindergartens, medical institutions, parks, stadiums with whom we work tight together.

Also, as the head of the directorate I am always asked by colleagues from other subdivisions to provide them with workforce. Because of that I have to take clear and efficient decisions to solve these requests. That is why I have to set deadlines for the advisors to solve their requests.

Since some tasks have priority and strict deadlines, I do not always take my lunch break. Respectively, sometimes it is enough to drink a cup of coffee and concentrate myself on the tasks.

Positive results

During the day, I do commute within the city. Mostly I visit the institutions with social purposes and do unannounced checks if the convicted persons are fulfilling their work. As a proof, a report is written and the condemned signs it.

It is encouraging to see that the hard work gives positive results. Usually the heads of institutions with social purposes are very happy about the help given to them. Also they are very responsive when it comes to providing proofs of the work done by the condemned. For example: in 2021, with help of people convicted / sanctioned to community service, 8 educational and preschool institutions were renewed. The work done contributed to the well-being of the whole society including parents and children.

In the meantime, I receive the decisions received for enforcement. These are strictly analysed, after I am convinced that they fall within the competence of the directorate. I make sure they are being executed within the deadlines. They are registered and assigned to the probation advisors according to territorial competence. There are cases that the documents are wrongly sent to our address; in such cases, they are returned. If necessary, I am a member of the disciplinary commission that is organized within the National Probation Inspectorate, as well as for cases where violations in the work of probation advisors throughout the country have been established.

Organizing is key

The working day ends at 5 p.m. Usually at the end of the working day I again write down in my personal notebook the tasks that I did not get around, so that the next day I give priority to these tasks. I am always looking for new ways of solving existing problems.

I believe that each of us must organize his or her working day well, get satisfaction from what we do and enjoy the teamwork. High organizational ability, proper support and motivation of employees, positive and motivating atmosphere significantly lead to the improvement of the directorate’s work , and a well-organized leader is a role model for his employees.