WHITE PLAINS, NY — William E. Mounteney, appointed 100 years ago as Westchester County’s first probation officer, helped establish best practices in probation and lived a rather remarkable and profound life that sadly ended in a nursing home with no family and no financial resources. He was buried in a Kensico Cemetery grave that remained unmarked until today. In a morning ceremony, Astorino and Commissioner of Probation, Rocco Pozzi, unveiled a monument that was placed on Mounteney’s gravesite. With funds raised from the Westchester County Probation Officers Association, the monument reads, “William E. Mounteney, 1874-1963, First Probation Officer, Westchester County, N.Y., Appointed 1915.” In a second, more formal afternoon ceremony, a full program of prominent speakers was held at the Westchester County Courthouse in White Plains to honor Mounteney and to celebrate the Probation Centennial.
“Today is an important day as we not only honor William Mounteney but also the men and women who serve as probation officers,” said Astorino. “Mr. Mounteney may not have had any blood relatives outlive him, but he has 200 members of a probation family today that know of him and appreciate all he did to establish best practices in the important work of probation. It’s nice to think that Mr. Mounteney, a former pastor, is looking down on us today with gratitude that he’s being remembered 52 years following his passing and 100 years following his appointment.”
“Following in the footsteps of Mr. Mounteney, the Probation Officers of today serve with integrity, commitment and passion as they strive to protect the citizens of Westchester County and provide services to the courts,” said Pozzi.
Prior to becoming a probation officer, Mounteney had a 20-year career in ministry that took him to Churches in Upstate New York, New York City, New Jersey and Westchester. He was also an award winning chicken farmer and volunteered during World War I at age 43 to serve in the American Expeditionary Services as an overseas secretary in Europe.
Born in England, Mounteney immigrated to the United States as a young man. Throughout his life he was civic-minded. “I believe that… one of the great duties of the present-day citizen is to lift the ideal… lay aside bigotry and prejudice… practice the art of optimism,” he once said. “This is the best country in all the world. It is going to be a better country – better than our fathers hoped, better than we ourselves have dreamed.”
As a probation officer, Mounteney carried these ideals. He showed compassion for offenders, regardless of race and worked hard to secure employment for cases in his care, but he was not reluctant to hold probationers accountable for their actions. He also sought to recruit women into the probationary field.
The Westchester County Probation Department today has a staff of 200 (including 150 probation officers). Its operations are housed on three floors of the Westchester County Courthouse in White Plains and four district offices located in Mount Vernon, New Rochelle, Peekskill and Yonkers. The mission of the Department of Probation, as a law enforcement agency and a partner in the criminal justice system, is to protect the citizens and visitors of the County by providing a balance of prevention, intervention and control strategies for offenders, victims and families and to enforce the orders and conditions imposed by the courts.
Among the speakers at the courthouse ceremony in addition to Astorino and Pozzi were: Michael Kaplowitz, Chairman of the Board of Legislators; Hon. Alan Scheinkman, Administrative Judge, 9th Judicial District; Susan Burke, President of American Probation/Parole Association; Robert Maccarone, State Director, NYS Division of Criminal Justice Services; Joseph Rinaldi, President, Middle Atlantic States Correction Association; Kevin McKay, NYS Probation Officers Association; and Katherine Hite, Westchester County Historical Society.