When I first watched “Dog the Bounty Hunter”, on the Discovery Channel, I found it very entertaining and amusing. I then got to thinking. Why would an individual or a group of individuals want to do such a living? Doesn’t the police usually do that. Well the answer is simple. Money and No. There is decent money to be made and no the police usually don’t do it. There are some sections of law enforcement that do have agents that go out and bring them in but, usually it is only for the individuals that are a high risk to society.
Each State has different laws when it comes to bounty hunters. Some States require you to be licensed with some training. Then, there are some States were nothing is required. Some law enforcement offices consider bounty hunters as the lowest of individuals. Why? Because they don’t spend the time going through the training that they had to go through.
There are some States where a bounty hunter doesn’t even need a warrant to bring in an individual. They can enter a person’s home legally and make an arrest. Still, there are some States that won’t allow this. Some States require a bounty hunter to wear special clothing. This is so they can be identified by local law enforcement.
There are also States that don’t recognize bounty hunters. Kentucky is one of those States. This is because they have no bail bondsmen system. They usually release individuals on their own recognizance. Firearms are not allowed to be worn in some States while others don’t have any laws regulating them for bounty hunters.
In the State of Texas, a bounty hunter must be a peace officer. They can be a level 3 (armed) security officer, or private investigator. Some regular police officers can even do bounty hunting in their spare time. Retired police officers can also keep their certificates updated and be a bounty hunter.
A bounty hunter is considered to be a vigilante. They need to know the laws in each State. In many cases, if they go outside the USA, and enter a foreign country to do a job, they are considered as a kidnapper. This was the case with Dog the Bounty Hunter. He went into Mexico after millionaire rapist Andrew Luster. He was arrested in Mexico. After being let go, he came back to America. America then turned him back over to Mexico for fleeing.
There have been bounty hunters convicted of murder. They kill their intended target and then are prosecuted. They have also been prosecuted for civil rights violations. So a bounty hunter needs to observe the laws of both the State and the government.
There are many on line websites that will give you a so-called degree as bounty hunter. Some are legit and some just make a quick buck off an individual.
In 1872, the US supreme court in the case of Taylor v Taintor is established that a bail bondsman has the right to recover an individual that has skipped bail or is wanted on certain charges. In some cases back then it was “Dead or Alive.” Bounty hunters have to adhere to the law as well. Otherwise they are considered to be in violation and could be arrested.
On the average, 31,500 bail jumpers are apprehended each year in the USA by bounty hunters. That is almost 90% of the people that jump bail.
It is possible to be able to make up to $50,000 per apprehension of an individual. However, those are hard to come by. Still, enough of the smaller ones add up. There are some bounty hunters that talk their targets into voluntarily coming in with them. They explain why it is to their advantage and never have to use force. Bounty hunters also rely on outside sources for information. This helps them with their job. A bounty hunter will also find that their job can be expensive. They have expenses for food and travel with no guarantee that they will make an apprehension.
sources; www.bountyhunteremployment.com
