Bounty Hunter Questions and Some Thoughts

[326MOD10]

In the earlier Dog post it was said by a fellow forum member that bounty hunting was not a profession and I think it was said bounty hunters were unskilled employees of the bail bond companies. At least I think that was the sentiment expressed.

Now I am no fan of Dog. I think he is a TV character.

With that said, as I stated I believe it is a profession.

In VA you have to be certified by the DCJS, which is the same agency that certifies police officers. Granted the training is not as lengthy, only a 40 hour class, but same as other security type/PI professions. There are also professional organizations that cater to the field.

I had 3 or 4 interactions with bounty hunters in my career and found them all to be professional. In fact I was sometimes jealous of the latitude they had versus law enforcement.

And lastly they are in existence due to language in the Constitution and have been around for a long time.

I know that not everyone in a profession is a professional.

I would be curious to hear from anyone who works/worked in the field or those that have had contact with those in the field and their thoughts.

I personally have always been fascinated with the field.

 

[trooper2899]

My hero's were Repo "agents" some of the maggots they deal with are sub-human (loosen the lug nuts on the front wheels when retiring for the night or have a pit bull sleeping on the back seat).....I once dropped one off at a notorious trailer court who had a 1 pound package of hamburger in his pocket.....this guy would repo 4 or 5 vehicles a night and park them all in a public lot and have a tow truck making repeated trips to pick them up, he got 100 bucks for each one (dangerous $).

 

[LoboGunLeather]

The right to reasonable bail is guaranteed by the US Constitution. Bail may be posted by various means ranging from a written promise to appear, a deposit of cash with the court pending future appearances, a pledge of property, or by surety bond. A bond is essentially a short-term insurance policy issued by a licensed bondsman in return for payment of a premium (typically 10% to 20% of the bail amount, frequently secured by property right such as automobile titles, real estate, even personal property held by the bondsman to assure compliance).

When applying for and accepting a bail bond agreement the bailee grants to the bailor the rights to privacy, liberty, property pledged, and essentially his dead carcass delivered to the courts.

In the event that a bailee fails to comply with orders of the court the bailor may be summarily required to submit to default, immediate payment of the full amount pledged for the bail.

A bail bondsman, or his authorized agent, may break and enter into any dwelling or structure in which there is reason to believe that a fugitive bailee may be found, no warrant required. There are few, if any, limitations on methods of capture, confinement, or transport across jurisdictional lines to deliver the bailee to the court of record.

Of course, since the early days of such a system there have been many abuses, and such legal standards as "reasonable" and "necessary" have been applied, along with civil actions seeking damages for outrageous conduct (generally defined as anything that a litigious attorney wants it to mean).

Bail bondsmen and their authorized agents are private citizens, not public officials and not representatives of the courts. The only goal is to avoid judgement and default of the bail amount.

A bondsman may authorize a particular person or company to act in his behalf in enforcing the terms of the bail bond agreement, or may advertise a "bounty" for anyone causing the arrest and delivery of the fugitive.

Generally speaking, it makes little difference whether the offense involved originally was a minor or major case, felony or misdemeanor, even a traffic charge. The bailor entering the agreement and accepting the surety contract has, quite literally, pledged his mortal being as collateral.

The "bounty" offered by the surety might be anywhere from 10% to perhaps 50% of the amount subject to judgement.

Dog the Bounty Hunter is not likely to take much interest in mounting an investigation and pursuit of someone wanted on a $1000 bail.

Most bail bondsmen are not in the business of funding bounty hunters. They will make a point of assuring that each bailee has property interests that can be attached and seized to cover the judgement. Mom and Dad, when pledging the family home to a bondsman to secure Junior's release pending trial are not likely to meet a bounty hunter; much easier to simply file the lien and foreclose on the house.

There are occasional stories about large bails being granted and the bailee absconding. Sometimes these stores include reports of the bondsman receiving shopping bags full of cash to cover the judgements.

Entertaining stories. Dog the Bounty Hunter found a way of capitalizing on such entertainment. Not much there for anything else.

 

[forindooruseonly]

The ones I knew were complete trash. I worked as a repo guy for bit, some of my "colleagues" were also bounty guys. This was in the 90's in Oklahoma, I'm not sure what their requirements were but it wasn't enough, whatever it was.

Every time I see a news story about bounty hunters hitting the wrong house or shooting the wrong person, I immediately look for familiar names, cause that was about their speed.

I am sure there are professional ones. I imagine they are quiet, competent and effective, and we never, ever hear about them because they are good at their jobs.

 

[biku324]

Forty hours of training (in those very few places wherein such is required) that no one fails isn't a professional education, nor are there universally published standards of behavior, codes of ethics, hiring and retention standards, basic education requirements, nor public bodies to enforce rules.

Bounty hunters are simply the sleazy underbelly of an antiquated bail-bonding tradition.

 

[Rudi]

IIRC, in 1909 the LAPD hired Wyat Earp to be a firearms instructor and bounty hunter. He usually hunted in Mexico. I really love his wisdom on pistol shooting. "It's better to be a bit more accurate than a bit too fast."

 

[BigBoy99]

Dog's priority is being a TV star first. (In my opinion, he is NOT succeeding.) Being a quality bail bondsman is at the very bottom of his list of priorities.

 

[forindooruseonly]

The bounty hunters I worked with were effective at their job because they ran and lived in the same type of circles as those that skipped bail.

Having worked in my youth in a pawnshop and a used-car lot (which is how I got started in the repo business), I have no use for reality TV that depicts those business as high entertainment. Being the pawn business was a sobering, depressing experience. Repo work was much the same. I can't stand reality shows like Dog the Bounty Hunter, Pawn Stars, that Hardcore Pawn show or whatever out of Detroit, or that Operation Repo and its ilk.

I understand it's all scripted nonsense, but it turns my stomach nonetheless.

 

[rockquarry]

I know little of bounty hunters, but surely no one actually watches that Gorgeous George bounty hunter TV show.

 

[Kanewpadle]

I’ve had one interaction with a bounty hunter. And it wasn’t good.

Several years ago I got a call from one. Wanted me to unlock his house. I explained the procedure. I see your ID that matches the address. You pay first. I unlock the door.

I arrived and when he produced his ID, it didn’t match the address. He proceeds to tell me that he is a bounty hunter and has the legal right to enter. So me being me, I was highly pissed off. I told him he was a liar, that he needed to pay me for my time, and I wasn’t unlocking the door without a court order.

He declined of course and said he would call someone else. I stated good luck with that. I know all the locksmiths in the area and that would call all of them.

We exchanged “pleasantries” and I left.

 

[steelslaver]

I imagine it is a like a lot of things. There are a lot of wanna bes, show boats and a few really good ones working quietly and quickly with no fuss no muss. Take private investigators for example, bet there are similarities

I bet 95% of bail jumpers would be real easy to find and apprehend. If they were very bright with no bad habits they wouldn't need to be out on bail. Just wait till their bar closes, check their dealer etc.

Now days, if I was a car dealer selling to high risk buyers you can bet there would be a tracker or 2 hidden in every car.

 

[Muss Muggins]

I’m traveling back from Reno today and tomorrow after doing a recovery. I’ll have something later, maybe. Gonna let this percolate for now . . .

 

[Bald1]

I always viewed bounty hunters as wanna be cops who couldn’t quit make the cut. There was an incident not far from me in Buffalo NY about 18 months ago. 2 bounty hunters bust into a relative of a fugitives house. There was video. It was ridiculous. Long story short, bounty hunters in jail.

 

[biku324]

Even in primitive New Mexico, there are state licensing requirements for private investigators and three different classifications of security guards and private patrol officers (Chapter 61, Article 27B, NMSA 1978). 'Bounty hunters' have none.

Further, in any state that has passed the Uniform Extradition Act, bondsmen making warrantless arrest must comply, in most states by taking the arrestee to the state authorities where the arrest took place.

[T]he legislative action [enactment of the Uniform Extradition Act] was intended to eliminate the bail system and its attendant evils in favor of a more civilized system of apprehension and return of {*543} accused and convicted criminals. The common law rule is abandoned in favor of [the extradition statute] which provides judicial notice and identification safeguards which are more consistent with contemporary standards of due process.

{17} This same result is applicable under New Mexico law. A bondsman, while empowered by statute with the authority to arrest his principal under Section 31-4-14, is not immunized from liability for violations of this state's criminal laws perpetrated against third parties or the property of others while carrying out such arrest.

 

[Muss Muggins]

New Mexico did away with secured cash bail in 2016, with disastrous results. The legislature and citizenry are presently attempting to restore some sanity to the system.

I told you that story to tell you this story. As to the point of your post, if you don’t have bail bond agents, you’re generally not gonna have bounty hunters either . . .

Even in primitive New Mexico, there are state licensing requirements for private investigators and three different classifications of security guards and private patrol officers (Chapter 61, Article 27B, NMSA 1978). 'Bounty hunters' have none.

 

[biku324]

And abuses of the bail bonding system is specifically why our laws were changed by a vote of the people on a constitutional amendment.

The fact remains that prior to 2016 there were actual requirements for PIs and security guards (there still are); none whatsoever for 'bounty hunters.' And out-of-state bondsmen who want to arrest their clients in New Mexico have to comply with NM law in making warrantless arrests and attempting extradition. You could ask Texas bondsman Alberto Lopez how this works - he's now a convicted felon for his hijinks in New Mexico.

 

[Muss Muggins]

Perhaps NM should have moved to license bounty hunters instead of increasing the crime rate. And Alberto Lopez would have gone to jail in in his licensed home state of Texas as well. There was much more wrong with that case than your CliffNotes version . . .

And abuses of the bail bonding system is specifically why our laws were changed by a vote of the people on a constitutional amendment.

The fact remains that prior to 2016 there were actual requirements for PIs and security guards (there still are); none whatsoever for 'bounty hunters.' And out-of-state bondsmen who want to arrest their clients in New Mexico have to comply with NM law in making warrantless arrests and attempting extradition. You could ask Texas bondsman Alberto Lopez how this works - he's now a convicted felon for his hijinks in New Mexico.

 

[arjay]

Several years ago while doing some last minute Christmas shopping I ran into Dog and Beth at a local mall. It was surreal… texted my daughter who had been a fan during her teens…”they’re real!”

 

[biku324]

Perhaps NM should have moved to license bounty hunters instead of increasing the crime rate. And Alberto Lopez would have gone to jail in in his licensed home state of Texas as well. There was much more wrong with that case than your CliffNotes version . . .

[/QUOTE]

Then you also had officers that assisted the GCSO at the arrest of Lopez, et al?

 

[trooper2899]

Bounty Hunters

I worked in NYC and almost every area of NYS for 30 years arrested many people and executed warrants for everything from "Dangerous Dog" to multiple Homicides.....I extradited people from many states, pre-boarded and seated 1st row in front of rear toilet on commercial aircraft (wearing cuffs with towel affixed).
I NEVER met a bounty hunter in NY, if they operate in NY I never met one in a precinct or in court.......given the current climate in the US, I don't know how bounty hunters can function anywhere without getting killed or sued for millions.