Bounty
Hunters
Hunters
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Before I talk about the need for, and
importance of, bounty hunters, I must
tell you to stay as far away from these
guys...or girls as possible. If you're ever
approached by bounty hunters, and they
request that you accompany them to
locate a person who's jumped bail --
don't do it! If they're just letting you
know that they'll be at a particular
location or area, that's fine. You can
simply notify your communications of
their presence in the event a 911 call
results from their activity.
importance of, bounty hunters, I must
tell you to stay as far away from these
guys...or girls as possible. If you're ever
approached by bounty hunters, and they
request that you accompany them to
locate a person who's jumped bail --
don't do it! If they're just letting you
know that they'll be at a particular
location or area, that's fine. You can
simply notify your communications of
their presence in the event a 911 call
results from their activity.
With the exception of just a few states and the District of Columbia,
bounty hunters roam pretty freely across the United States. While
some states have enacted various legislation regarding licensing, training
and activities of bounty hunters, they don't generally have the
restrictions, particularly regarding search and seizure, that apply to you.
When a suspect is stupid enough to fail to appear for court, and his or
her bond is secured by a bail bondsman, the bondsman will send the
bounty hunter. Unlike you, the bounty hunter doesn't need any arrest
warrant or search and seizure warrant from the court. The bounty
hunter simply finds the suspect and returns him or her to jail.
Without bail bondsmen and the bounty hunters who serve them, the
criminal justice system would be in very serious trouble. Have you ever
wondered why criminals are generally very dependable when it comes to
appearing for their court dates? The reason is simple, and it can be
described with one word...certainty. That certainty is...if you cross the
bail bondsmen, you'll be hunted down in very short order.
You'll arrest people with arrest records for serious crimes literally as
long as your arm. At first you may be surprised how quickly your
suspects are out on bail. All you have to do is look at those arrest
records, and you'll notice the absence of one all important previous
arrest charge...Failure to Appear (FTA). While you'll often hear that
the danger the suspect presents to the community is taken under
consideration when determining bail status, the single overriding
consideration is a high probable certainty that the suspect will appear
for trial. That danger consideration business applies most frequently
when the incident is high profile...translation -- newsworthy.
An arrest record works much like a credit record. Let's say you arrest
two suspects, in the same and relatively minor incident, and you
charge both with identical charges. The first suspect has no previous
record of arrests while the second suspect has a lengthy record including
arrests for serious offenses. While the first suspect will probably be
required to post bail, the second suspect may well be released on his or
her own recognizance as long as that second suspect has no previous
FTA charge(s).
The bail bondsmen cannot afford to rely on police departments to
protect their posted bonds from forfeiture by the courts when their
clients fail to appear for court. The courts have long understood this
reality which is so intertwined with all the other realities. While bounty
hunters come under scrutiny more frequently for their wild west ways of
catching bad guys -- due to the 24 hour news cycle -- the bounty hunter
will never be in danger of extinction.
Back to why you should avoid the bounty hunter. If you assist bounty
hunters in an apprehension of a bail jumper, your mere presence
effectively transforms the bounty hunters into agents of the state.
Since you're a sworn police officer, your participation -- to any degree --
makes you responsible for any constitutional violations committed
during the apprehension. It's a weird thing to comprehend since the
bounty hunters cannot, themselves, commit those violations.
Bounty hunters, who know what they're doing, won't want you, or any
police officer, around to cramp their style. However, there my well
come a time when you'll respond to an incident where bounty hunters
are involved:
It's really pretty simple. While bounty hunters have a lot of latitude in
their work, when they're in your presence, they're just like everybody
else. Just never lose track of your responsibilities, and the fact that you
possess the authority to meet those responsibilities.
bounty hunters roam pretty freely across the United States. While
some states have enacted various legislation regarding licensing, training
and activities of bounty hunters, they don't generally have the
restrictions, particularly regarding search and seizure, that apply to you.
When a suspect is stupid enough to fail to appear for court, and his or
her bond is secured by a bail bondsman, the bondsman will send the
bounty hunter. Unlike you, the bounty hunter doesn't need any arrest
warrant or search and seizure warrant from the court. The bounty
hunter simply finds the suspect and returns him or her to jail.
Without bail bondsmen and the bounty hunters who serve them, the
criminal justice system would be in very serious trouble. Have you ever
wondered why criminals are generally very dependable when it comes to
appearing for their court dates? The reason is simple, and it can be
described with one word...certainty. That certainty is...if you cross the
bail bondsmen, you'll be hunted down in very short order.
You'll arrest people with arrest records for serious crimes literally as
long as your arm. At first you may be surprised how quickly your
suspects are out on bail. All you have to do is look at those arrest
records, and you'll notice the absence of one all important previous
arrest charge...Failure to Appear (FTA). While you'll often hear that
the danger the suspect presents to the community is taken under
consideration when determining bail status, the single overriding
consideration is a high probable certainty that the suspect will appear
for trial. That danger consideration business applies most frequently
when the incident is high profile...translation -- newsworthy.
An arrest record works much like a credit record. Let's say you arrest
two suspects, in the same and relatively minor incident, and you
charge both with identical charges. The first suspect has no previous
record of arrests while the second suspect has a lengthy record including
arrests for serious offenses. While the first suspect will probably be
required to post bail, the second suspect may well be released on his or
her own recognizance as long as that second suspect has no previous
FTA charge(s).
The bail bondsmen cannot afford to rely on police departments to
protect their posted bonds from forfeiture by the courts when their
clients fail to appear for court. The courts have long understood this
reality which is so intertwined with all the other realities. While bounty
hunters come under scrutiny more frequently for their wild west ways of
catching bad guys -- due to the 24 hour news cycle -- the bounty hunter
will never be in danger of extinction.
Back to why you should avoid the bounty hunter. If you assist bounty
hunters in an apprehension of a bail jumper, your mere presence
effectively transforms the bounty hunters into agents of the state.
Since you're a sworn police officer, your participation -- to any degree --
makes you responsible for any constitutional violations committed
during the apprehension. It's a weird thing to comprehend since the
bounty hunters cannot, themselves, commit those violations.
Bounty hunters, who know what they're doing, won't want you, or any
police officer, around to cramp their style. However, there my well
come a time when you'll respond to an incident where bounty hunters
are involved:
It's really pretty simple. While bounty hunters have a lot of latitude in
their work, when they're in your presence, they're just like everybody
else. Just never lose track of your responsibilities, and the fact that you
possess the authority to meet those responsibilities.
Let's say you receive a call for a home invasion. You arrive
only to learn that bounty hunters have broken into a home
looking for a suspect who has jumped bail.
Amid the confusion, you verify that the suspect does live at
the address; however, the suspect was not at home when the
bounty hunters entered. The suspect's wife is complaining
about the bounty hunters breaking down the front door.
While you couldn't have done that in the absence of hot
pursuit or a search and seizure warrant, the bounty hunters
have no such restrictions. Okay...the wife continues to
complain that the bounty hunters are searching through her
personal papers.
Remember, whenever you arrive on the scene of anything,
you are immediately in charge. In this instance, the bounty
hunters are looking for information to identify additional
locations where they might look for the suspect. They are,
in fact, conducting search and seizure.
Well, they had their chance. Now that you're present, and
you're in charge...everything stops. You chase the bounty
hunters out of the home, make certain the wife has
identifying information regarding the bounty hunters and
the bondsman who employs them, and you prepare a
miscellaneous incident report detailing the facts of the
incident.
In this incident, everything has gone relatively uneventful,
but let's make it a little more interesting. You walk inside
the house with the knowledge that bounty hunters are
present. You enter a room where one of the bounty
hunters is searching the personal papers. The wife is
objecting as she grabs onto a piece of paper the bounty
hunter is holding in his hand. The bounty hunter responds
by grabbing the wife by her arm, and he pushes her across
the room.
Once the bounty hunters had determined the suspect was
not present, they should have left. Anything else they do,
such as searching for the information described, should be
done with approval. In this instance, the wife clearly does
not approve, and she attempts to stop the search. The
response by the bounty hunter is clearly not a response for
self defense. You have, in fact, witnessed an assault, and
the bounty hunter would be subject to arrest.
only to learn that bounty hunters have broken into a home
looking for a suspect who has jumped bail.
Amid the confusion, you verify that the suspect does live at
the address; however, the suspect was not at home when the
bounty hunters entered. The suspect's wife is complaining
about the bounty hunters breaking down the front door.
While you couldn't have done that in the absence of hot
pursuit or a search and seizure warrant, the bounty hunters
have no such restrictions. Okay...the wife continues to
complain that the bounty hunters are searching through her
personal papers.
Remember, whenever you arrive on the scene of anything,
you are immediately in charge. In this instance, the bounty
hunters are looking for information to identify additional
locations where they might look for the suspect. They are,
in fact, conducting search and seizure.
Well, they had their chance. Now that you're present, and
you're in charge...everything stops. You chase the bounty
hunters out of the home, make certain the wife has
identifying information regarding the bounty hunters and
the bondsman who employs them, and you prepare a
miscellaneous incident report detailing the facts of the
incident.
In this incident, everything has gone relatively uneventful,
but let's make it a little more interesting. You walk inside
the house with the knowledge that bounty hunters are
present. You enter a room where one of the bounty
hunters is searching the personal papers. The wife is
objecting as she grabs onto a piece of paper the bounty
hunter is holding in his hand. The bounty hunter responds
by grabbing the wife by her arm, and he pushes her across
the room.
Once the bounty hunters had determined the suspect was
not present, they should have left. Anything else they do,
such as searching for the information described, should be
done with approval. In this instance, the wife clearly does
not approve, and she attempts to stop the search. The
response by the bounty hunter is clearly not a response for
self defense. You have, in fact, witnessed an assault, and
the bounty hunter would be subject to arrest.
It's all about money, jail space,
priorities, and the realities involved
with police officers tracking down
people while adhering to constitutional
safeguards. Bounty hunters are
responsible for the apprehension of
90% of those who jump bail. Without
the bounty hunter, two things would
happen: bail bondsmen would go out of
business, and most of the arrest
warrants issued for those failing to
appear for court would join the
hundreds of thousands of unserved
arrest warrants laying dormant all
across the country.
When it comes to police officers, you'll
learn that priorities are attached to the
service of arrest warrants. Obviously,
the service of an arrest warrant for
murder will be pursued relentlessly by
police. When you move to the other
end of that priority scale where FTA
warrants reside, you can realize that
relentless does not apply. From time to
time, you'll notice that police
departments perform special operations
to clear their backlog of unserved
arrest warrants. These ever occurring
backlogs are not necessarily due to a
department's inefficiency in warrant
service. The number of arrest warrants
issued in a particular jurisdiction, and
the police officers' constitutional
restrictions have everything to do with
the proliferation of unserved arrest
warrants.
priorities, and the realities involved
with police officers tracking down
people while adhering to constitutional
safeguards. Bounty hunters are
responsible for the apprehension of
90% of those who jump bail. Without
the bounty hunter, two things would
happen: bail bondsmen would go out of
business, and most of the arrest
warrants issued for those failing to
appear for court would join the
hundreds of thousands of unserved
arrest warrants laying dormant all
across the country.
When it comes to police officers, you'll
learn that priorities are attached to the
service of arrest warrants. Obviously,
the service of an arrest warrant for
murder will be pursued relentlessly by
police. When you move to the other
end of that priority scale where FTA
warrants reside, you can realize that
relentless does not apply. From time to
time, you'll notice that police
departments perform special operations
to clear their backlog of unserved
arrest warrants. These ever occurring
backlogs are not necessarily due to a
department's inefficiency in warrant
service. The number of arrest warrants
issued in a particular jurisdiction, and
the police officers' constitutional
restrictions have everything to do with
the proliferation of unserved arrest
warrants.
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