We're not exactly sure who dropped the ball in the probation office, but someone did.

Someone wasn't watching closely enough over the two men charged in the separate murders of Duke graduate student Abhijit Mahato and UNC student body president Eve Carson in the early months of 2008. Laurence Lovette Jr. and DeMario Atwater were supposed to be on probation at the time of the murders. But although they failed to report to probation officers, they had fallen through cracks in the system and weren't being monitored.

Those failures were shocking, but as it turned out they were just the tip of the iceberg. Losing track of probationers was far from rare. In fact, the entire system had become dysfunctional. A later inspection of the Durham branch office found it in "crisis" mode.

This is understandably disturbing to a public already concerned about crime.

Gov. Beverly Perdue pledged in her campaign to reform the probation department, a promise she says has been fulfilled with a new management team and plans for more officers to lighten the heavy case load.

But two women who were demoted as a result of the shakeup, both of whom supervised the officers in charge of Lovette and Atwater, appear to have escaped accountability.

Cheryl Morris worked in the Durham office and Cindy Faison worked in Wake County. Last week, it was decided both women will be restored to their former positions. Both had protested their demotions.

"These settlements were what the agency saw as the best way to put the issue behind us and keep moving in a positive direction," said Department of Correction spokesman Keith Acree.

As we said, we don't know who dropped the ball. We're not sure it matters so much.

What does matter is that this dysfunctional department undergoes fundamental change. That's difficult in such a huge and challenging system. It's also hard when the same people remain in charge. But fundamental change is needed.

We would like to see someone in government come forward and explain exactly what changes have been made in the department. That would help reassure the public that things will indeed, get better, and help us understand exactly why two of the responsible individuals should be allowed to return to their previous roles.