Capt. Steven Tallard has been selected to become the first parole officer from New Jersey to attend the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Va., State Parole Board Chairman Peter J. Barnes Jr. announced.
Steven Tallard Tallard, a resident of Freehold, will be one of a group of police officers selected from around the world to receive specialized training at the FBI National Academy, then bring that knowledge back to their respective agencies to train their fellow officers and enhance the agencies’ law enforcement standards.
According to a press release, Tallard serves as one of the principal sex offender supervision specialists for the State Parole Board, which is New Jersey’s lead sex offender supervision agency. He led the creation of the agency’s Sex Offender Management Unit (SOMU), which became operational March 1, 2005, as the result of intensive research into the best practices and knowledge available in sex offender offense patterns, psychology and crime prevention.
He now serves as Unit Commander of SOMU South, after SOMU split into northern and southern units to keep pace with the growing number of sex offenders sentenced to supervision for life. SOMU South is responsible for nearly half of the 4,400 sex offenders currently under the State Parole Board’s supervision.
“Our parole officers are solid professionals, deeply committed to preventing crime and contributing to ex-prisoners’ successful re-entry into society as lawabiding citizens,” Barnes said. “While there is no shortage of outstanding parole officers, Capt. Tallard’s leadership and expertise make him the ideal candidate to represent New Jersey at the FBI National Academy.”
“The State Parole Board has entered a new era, with parole officers focusing more intensely on intelligence sharing partnerships with the FBI and U.S. Marshals Task Force, sex offender supervision, street gang suppression, criminal investigations and homeland security,” Tallard said. “I look forward to this challenge, and to bringing the best insights from the FBI National Academy to enhance the State Parole Board’s public safety mission.”
According to the press release, Tallard has been instrumental in developing the State Parole Board’s “containment” approach to sex offender management, which includes intensive parole supervision and information sharing with partner law enforcement agencies; sex offender-specific treatment to help control sex offenders’ impulsivity; and will soon include polygraph examinations in certain cases, to obtain sexual history information and monitor offenders for behaviors that increase the risk of re-offense.
He played a crucial role in developing guidelines for the State Parole Board’s use of Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking for the state’s highest-risk sex offenders, and for the use of polygraph testing of sex offenders; and develops sex offender-specific training for parole officers.
Since 2006, Tallard has also served on the Department of Corrections’ Special Classification Review Board, where he works with a board of four psychologists to review incarcerated sex offenders who are eligible for parole consideration.
Tallard first joined the State Parole Board as a parole officer recruit in 1997. His caseloads included sex offenders and violent offenders.
In 2002 he became the agency’s training coordinator, and became the lieutenant and supervisor for the State Parole Board’s New Brunswick District Office, with responsibilities for Middlesex and Somerset counties. He earned a Master of Arts Degree in Sociology with a concentration in Criminal Justice in 1991, and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science/Public Administration in 1980, both at Montclair State University.
T
he State Parole Board selected Tallard
for the FBI National Academy from a group of candidates of the rank of lieutenant and above. He is expected to attend the FBI National Academy’s 10-week course beginning in July, with a class of some 250 law enforcement officers from across America and the world. The specialized training, funded completely by the federal government, will directly support the State Parole Board’s role in Gov. Jon Corzine’s statewide anti-crime initiative, according to the press release.
The FBI National Academy (FBINA), established in 1935, is a professional course of study for U.S. and international law enforcement leaders. Its mission is to enhance law enforcement standards, knowledge and cooperation on the local level, and create partnerships that span state and national lines. Participation is by invitation only, through a nomination process.
The New Jersey State Parole Board (SPB) is New Jersey’s lead re-entry agency, and works to ensure ex-prisoners return to society as law-abiding citizens.

