Bounty hunter

A bounty hunter captures fugitives for a monetary reward (bounty). Other names, mainly used in the United States, include bail enforcement agent, fugitive recovery agent.

Laws in the U.S.

In the United States legal system, the 1873 U.S. Supreme Court case Taylor v. Taintor, 16 Wall (83 U.S.

366, 21 L.Ed. 287), is cited as having established that the person into whose custody an accused is

remanded as part of the accuser's bail has sweeping rights to that person (although this may have been

accurate at the time the decision was reached, the portion cited was obiter dictum and has no binding

precedential value). Most bounty hunters are employed by bail bondsmen: the bounty hunter is paid

about 10% of the bail the fugitive initially paid. If the fugitive eludes bail, the bondsman, not the bounty

hunter, is responsible for the remainder of the fugitive's bail. This is a way of ensuring his clients arrive at

trial. In the United States, bounty hunters claim to catch 31,500 bail jumpers per year, about 90% of

people who jump bail.[1]

Bounty hunters are sometimes called "skiptracers", but this usage can be misleading. While bounty

hunters are often skiptracers as well, skiptracing generally refers to the process of searching for an

individual through less direct methods than active pursuit and apprehension, such as spies or debt

collectors. It is a civil matter and does not always imply criminal conduct on the part of the individual being

traced.

In the United States of America, bounty hunters have varying levels of authority in their duties with regard

to their targets depending on which states they operate in. As opined in Taylor v. Taintor, and barring

restrictions applicable state by state, a bounty hunter can enter the fugitive's private property without

a warrant in order to execute a re-arrest. They cannot, however, enter the property of anyone other than

the fugitive without a warrant or the owner's permission.

In some states, bounty hunters do not undergo any formal training, and are generally unlicensed, only

requiring sanction from a bail bondsman to operate. In other states, however, they are held to varying

standards of training and license. State legal requirements are often imposed on out-of-state bounty

hunters, meaning a suspect could temporarily escape rearrest by entering a state in which the bail agent

has limited or no jurisdiction.

Connecticut

he State of Connecticut has a detailed licensing process which requires any person who wants to engage

in the business as a bail enforcement agent (bounty hunter) must first obtain a professional license from

the Commissioner of Public Safety; specifically detailing that "No person shall, as surety on a bond in a

criminal proceeding or as an agent of such surety, engage in the business of taking or attempting to take

into custody the principal on the bond who has failed to appear in court and for whom a re-arrest warrant

or capias has been issued unless such person is licensed as a bail enforcement agent". Connecticut has

strict standards which require Bail Enforcement Agents to pass an extensive background check and,

while engaging in fugitive recovery operations, be uniformed, notify the local police barrack, wear a

badge, and only carry licensed and approved firearms, including handguns and long guns which are

permitted.[2]

Several schools in Connecticut have obtained certification by the Connecticut State Police to pre-license

Bail Enforcement Agents in a minimum of 20 hours of Criminal Justice training and a minimum of eight

hours of firearms training.

Kentucky

Kentucky prohibits bounty hunting in any form. Only a peace officer may make an arrest on a warrant that

is issued in NCIC.[3] This is because the state does not have a system of bail bondsmen.

Louisiana

Louisiana requires bounty hunters to wear clothing identifying them as such

Texas

A Texas bounty hunter is required to be a peace officer, Level III (armed) security officer, or a private

investigator.

International laws and legal protection

Bounty hunters will run into serious legal problems if they try to get fugitives from other countries. Laws in

nearly all countries outside the U.S. will judge the re-arrest of any fugitive by private persons

as kidnapping, or the bail agent may incur the punishments of some other serious crime if

local and international laws are broken by them. While the United States government generally allows the

activities of bounty hunters in the United States, the government is not as tolerant of these activities when

they are legally a felony in other sovereignnations.[4]

Noted bounty hunter Duane "Dog" Chapman (star of the TV series Dog the Bounty Hunter) was arrested

in Mexico after he apprehended the multi-millionaire rapist and fugitive Andrew Luster. Chapman was

subsequently released and returned to the U.S.[1] Chapman himself was later declared a fugitive by a

Mexican prosecutor and was subsequently arrested in the United States to be extradited back to Mexico.

Chapman maintains that under Mexico's citizen arrest law, he and his crew acted under proper policy.

Daniel Kear of Fairfax, Virginia pursued and apprehended Sidney Jaffe at a residence in Canada and

returned him to Florida to face trial. Kear was extradited to Canada in 1983, and convicted of

kidnapping.[4]

Several bounty hunters have also been arrested for killing the fugitive or apprehending the wrong

individuals, mistaking innocent people for fugitives.[5]

Unlike police officers, they have no legal protections against injuries to non-fugitives and few legal

protections against injuries to their targets.

In a Texas case, bounty hunters Richard James and his partner DG Pearson were arrested in 2001 for

felony charges during an arrest. The charges were levied by the fugitive and his family, but were later

dismissed against the hunters after the fugitive's wife shot a deputy sheriff in another arrest attempt of the

fugitive by the county sheriff's department. The hunters sued the fugitive and family, winning the civil suit

for malicious prosecution with a judgment amount of $1.5 million.

Bounty hunting in Rhodesia

During the Rhodesian Bush War, cattle rustling reached epidemic proportions in the late 1970s. This was

part of a twofold strategy of the guerrillas against the white minority government in Salisbury. First, it led

to starvation in the Tribal Trust Lands, secondly it negatively affected the economy of Rhodesia. Since the

Army and the British South Africa Police were overstretched on three fronts, soon mercenaries were hired

to confront the rustlers. They were called Range Detectives, and most of them were Vietnam veterans,

some of them members of The Crippled Eagles. Payment was roughly 7 Rhodesian dollars a day, and a

750 Rhodesian dollar bonus for each rustler caught.[6]

Law enforcement officerA law enforcement officer (also called peace officer), in North America, is any public-sector employee

or agent whose duties involve the enforcement of laws. The phrase can includepolice officers, prison

officers, customs officers, immigration officers, bailiffs, probation officers, parole officers, auxiliary officers,

and sheriffs, marshals, and their deputies. Security guards are not normally law enforcement officers,

unless they have been granted powers to enforce particular laws, such as those accredited under

a Community Safety Accreditation Scheme.

Modern legal codes use the term peace officer (or in some jurisdictions, law enforcement officer) to

include every person vested by the legislating state with law-enforcement authority—traditionally, anyone

"sworn, badged, and armable" but, basically, who can arrest, or refer such arrest for a

criminal prosecution. Hence, city police officers, county sheriffs' deputies, andstate troopers are usually

vested with the same authority within a given jurisdiction. Contract security officers may enforce certain

laws and administrative regulations, which may include detainment or apprehension authority.

Canada

In Canada, the Criminal Code (R.S., c. C-34, s. 2.) defines a peace officer as:

“ "Peace officer" includes

(a) a mayor, warden, reeve, sheriff, deputy sheriff, sheriff’s officer, and justice of the peace,

(b) a member of the Correctional Service of Canada who is designated as a peace officer

pursuant to Part I of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, and a warden, deputy warden,

instructor, keeper, jailer, guard and any other officer or permanent employee of a prison other

than a penitentiary as defined in Part I of theCorrections and Conditional Release Act,

(c) a police officer, police constable, bailiff, constable, or other person employed for the

preservation and maintenance of the public peace or for the service or execution of civil process,

(d) an officer within the meaning of the Customs Act, the Excise Act or the Excise Act, 2001, or a

person having the powers of such an officer, when performing any duty in the administration of

any of those Acts,

(d.1) an officer authorized under subsection 138(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection

Act,”

(e) a person designated as a fishery guardian under the Fisheries Act when performing any duties

or functions under that Act and a person designated as a fishery officer under the Fisheries

Act when performing any duties or functions under that Act or the Coastal Fisheries Protection

Act,

(f) the pilot in command of an aircraft

(i) registered in Canada under regulations made under the Aeronautics Act, or

(ii) leased without crew and operated by a person who is qualified under regulations made

under the Aeronautics Act to be registered as owner of an aircraft registered in Canada

under those regulations, while the aircraft is in flight, and

(g) officers and non-commissioned members of the Canadian Forces who are

(i) appointed for the purposes of section 156 of the National Defence Act, (Military Police) or

(ii) employed on duties that the Governor in Council, in regulations made under the National

Defence Act for the purposes of this paragraph, has prescribed to be of such a kind as to

necessitate that the officers and non-commissioned members performing them have the

powers of peace officers;

Section (b) allows for designation as a peace officer for a member of the Correctional Service of Canada

under the following via the Corrections and Conditional Release Act:[3]

“ *10. The Commissioner may in writing designate any staff member, either by name or by class, to be a peace officer, and a staff member so designated has all the powers, authority, protection and privileges that a peace officer has by law in respect of

(a) an offender subject to a warrant or to an order for long-term supervision; and

(b) any person, while the person is in a penitentiary.”

In addition, provincial legislatures can designate a class of officers (ie. Conservation Officers) to be peace

officers.

United States

General

U.S. Law Enforcement Officers include (but may not be limited to) the following:[1][2]

1. Police officers

2. Sheriffs and deputy sheriffs

3. Constables and deputy constables

4. Town Marshals and deputy town marshals

5. Prison officers

6. Probation officers

7. Fish and game wardens

8. Natural resources officers (park rangers and forest rangers)

9. Fire Marshals and deputy fire marshals

10. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents

11. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents

12. United States Marshals and deputy marshals

13. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) agents

14. Bureau of Diplomatic Security special agents

15. United States Border Patrol agents

16. Immigration inspectors

17. Customs and Border Protection officers

18. Federal air marshals

19. Federal Flight Deck Officer

20. United States Secret Service special agents and uniformed officers

21. District Attorney and Prosecuting Attorney investigators

22. Office of Mental Health safety/security officers[citation needed]

23. United States Postal Service postal inspectors

24. U.S. Coast Guard boarding officers

California

Sections 830 through 831.7 of the California Penal Code[3] list persons who are considered peace officers

within the State of California. Peace officers include, in addition to many others,

1. Police; sheriffs, undersheriffs, and their deputies. (§ 830.1[a])

2. The California Attorney General and special agents and investigators of the California

Department of Justice. (§ 830.1[b])

3. Members of the California Highway Patrol. (§ 830.2[a])

4. Members of the University of California Police Department or the California State University

Police Department. (§ 830.2 [b]&[c])

5. Special agents of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. (§ 830.2[d])

6. California State Park rangers. (§ 830.2[f])

7. Certain employees of the California Department of Motor Vehicles. (§ 830.3[c])

8. The State Fire Marshal and assistant or deputy state fire marshals. (§ 830.3[e])

9. Fraud investigators of the California Department of Insurance. (§ 830.3[i])

10. Criminal investigators of the Employment Development Department. (§ 830.3[q])

11. Members of the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District Police Department. (§ 830.33 [a])

12. Welfare fraud investigators employed by the California Department of Social Services and all

county welfare departments. (§ 830.35[a])

13. County coroners and deputy coroners. (§ 830.35[c])

14. Parole officers and correctional officers of the California Department of Corrections and

Rehabilitation. (§ 830.5 [a]&[b])

Most peace officers have jurisdiction throughout the state, but many have limited powers outside their

political subdivision. Some peace officers require special permission to carry firearms. Powers are often

limited to performance of peace officers’ primary duties (usually, enforcement of specific laws within their

political subdivision); however, most have power of arrest anywhere in the state for any public

offense[4] that poses immediate danger to person or property.

A private person (i.e., ordinary citizen) may arrest another person for an offense committed in the

arresting person’s presence, or if the other person has committed a felony whether or not in the arresting

person’s presence (Penal Code § 837),[5] though such an arrest when an offense has not actually

occurred leaves a private person open to criminal prosecution and civil liability for false arrest. A peace

officer # May, without an arrest warrant, arrest a person on probable cause that the person has

committed an offense in the officer’s presence, or if there is probable cause that a felony has been

committed and the officer has probable cause to believe the person to be arrested committed the felony.

(Penal Code § 836).[6] # Is immune from civil liability for false arrest if, at the time of arrest, the officer had

probable cause to believe the arrest was lawful.

Persons are required to comply with certain instructions given by a peace officer, and certain acts (e.g.,

battery) committed against a peace officer carry more severe penalties than the same acts against a

private person. It is unlawful to resist, delay, or obstruct a peace officer in the course of the officer’s duties

(Penal Code § 148[a][1])

New York State

Main article: Law enforcement in New York#Peace officers

New York State grants peace officers very specific powers under NYS Criminal Procedure Law, that they

may make warrantless arrests, use physical and deadly force, and issuesummonses under section 2.20

of that law.[8]

There is a full list of peace officers under Section 2.10 of that law.[8] Below are some examples.

1. That state has law enforcement agencies contained within existing executive branch departments

that employ sworn peace officers to investigate and enforce laws specifically related to the

department. Most often, these departments employ sworn Investigators (separate from the New

York State Police) that have state-wide investigative authority pursuant to the departments

mission.

2. The New York State Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement (BNE) is a state investigative agency

housed under the State Department of Health. Narcotic Investigators with the Bureau of Narcotic

Enforcement are sworn peace officers who carry firearms, make arrests, and enforce the New

York State Controlled Substances Act, New York State Penal Law, and New York State Public

Health Law.

3. The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance employs sworn peace officers as

Excise Tax Investigators and Revenue Crimes Investigators. These State Investigators carry

firearms, make arrests, and enforce New York State Penal Law related to tax evasion and other

crimes. Excise Tax Investigators may execute Search Warrants.

4. The New York State Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) Division of Field Investigation also

employ sworn peace officers as State Investigators. All DMV Investigators carry Glock

23 firearms and enforce New York State Penal Law and Vehicle and Traffic Law. The DMV

Division of Field Investigation investigates auto theft, odometer tampering, fraudulent documents

and identity theft crimes.[citation needed]

5. Private corporations can also register their employees as peace officers with the state Division of

Criminal Justice Services. One example is the resident-owned RiverBay Corporation's Co-op

City Department of Public Safety in New York City which, as of 2008, employs more than 100

public safety officers that are sworn as Special Patrolmen.[9]

6. Auxiliary Police officers in New York State are registered as peace officers with the Division of

Criminal Justice (DCJS). One example is the NYPD Auxiliary Police in New York City which, as

of 2008, has more than 4,500 Auxiliary Police officers who are registered by DCJS as "Part Time

Peace Officers without Firearms Training", and are registered as peace officers in the DCJS

registry of peace officers.[10]

Texas

Texas Statutes, Code of Criminal Procedure, Art. 2.12, provides:

“ Art. 2.12, WHO ARE PEACE OFFICERS. The following are peace officers:

(1) sheriffs, their deputies, and those reserve deputies who hold a permanent peace officer license

issued under Chapter 1701, Occupations Code;

(2) constables, deputy constables, and those reserve deputy constables who hold a permanent

peace officer license issued under Chapter 1701, Occupations Code;

(3) marshals or police officers of an incorporated city, town, or village, and those reserve municipal

police officers who hold a permanent peace officer license issued under Chapter 1701, Occupations

Code;

(4) rangers and officers commissioned by the Public Safety Commission and the Director of

the Department of Public Safety;

(5) investigators of the district attorneys', criminal district attorneys', and county attorneys' offices;

(6) law enforcement agents of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission;

(7) each member of an arson investigating unit commissioned by a city, a county, or the state;

(8) officers commissioned under Section 37.081, Education Code, or Subchapter E, Chapter 51,

Education Code;

(9) officers commissioned by the General Services Commission;

(10) law enforcement officers commissioned by the Parks and Wildlife Commission;

(11) airport police officers commissioned by a city with a population of more than 1.18 million that

operates an airport that serves commercial air carriers;

(12) airport security personnel commissioned as peace officers by the governing body of any

political subdivision of this state, other than a city described by Subdivision (11), that operates an

airport that serves commercial air carriers;

(13) municipal park and recreational patrolmen and security officers;

(14) security officers and investigators commissioned as peace officers by the comptroller;

(15) officers commissioned by a water control and improvement district under Section 49.216,

Water Code;

(16) officers commissioned by a board of trustees under Chapter 54, Transportation Code;

(17) investigators commissioned by the Texas Medical Board;

(18) officers commissioned by the board of managers of the Dallas County Hospital District,

the Tarrant County Hospital District, or the Bexar County Hospital District under Section 281.057,

Health and Safety Code;

(19) county park rangers commissioned under Subchapter E, Chapter 351, Local Government Code;

(20) investigators employed by the Texas Racing Commission;

(21) officers commissioned under Chapter 554, Occupations Code;

(22) officers commissioned by the governing body of a metropolitan rapid transit authority under

Section 451.108, Transportation Code, or by a regional transportation authority under Section

452.110, Transportation Code;

(23) investigators commissioned by the attorney general under Section 402.009, Government Code;

(24) security officers and investigators commissioned as peace officers under Chapter 466,

Government Code;

(25) an officer employed by the Department of State Health Services under Section 431.2471,

Health and Safety Code;

(26) officers appointed by an appellate court under Subchapter F, Chapter 53, Government Code;

(27) officers commissioned by the state fire marshal under Chapter 417, Government Code;

(28) an investigator commissioned by the commissioner of insurance under Section 701.104,

Insurance Code;

(29) apprehension specialists and inspectors general commissioned by the Texas Youth

Commission as officers under Sections 61.0451 and 61.0931, Human Resources Code;

(30) officers appointed by the inspector general of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice under

Section 493.019, Government Code;

(31) investigators commissioned by the Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and

Education under Section 1701.160, Occupations Code;

(32) commission investigators commissioned by the Texas Private Security Board under Section

1702.061(f), Occupations Code;

(33) the fire marshal and any officers, inspectors, or investigators commissioned by an emergency

services district under Chapter 775, Health and Safety Code;

(34) officers commissioned by the State Board of Dental Examiners under Section 254.013,

Occupations Code, subject to the limitations imposed by that section; and

(35) investigators commissioned by the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission as officers under

Section 141.055, Human Resources Code.

Skip trace

Skip tracing (also skip tracing) is a colloquial term used to describe the process of locating a person's

whereabouts for any number of purposes. A skip tracer is someone who performs this task, which may

be the person's primary occupation. The term "skip" refers to the person being searched for, and is

derived from the idiomatic expression "to skip town," meaning to depart (perhaps in a rush), leaving

minimal clues behind to "trace" the "skip" to a new location.

Skip tracing tactics may be employed by debt collectors, bail bond enforcers (bounty hunting), private

investigators, attorneys, police detectives and journalists, or by any person attempting to locate a subject

whose contact information is not immediately known. Similar techniques have also been utilized by

criminals to locate witnesses in criminal trials, resulting in the development of witness protection programs

aimed at providing former witnesses with new identities and locations to avoid detection.

Method

Skip tracing is done by collecting as much information as possible about the subject. The information is

then analyzed, reduced, and verified. Sometimes the subject's current whereabouts are in the data, but

are obfuscated by the sheer amount of information or disinformation. More often the data will be used to

identify third parties that might be able to assist the process. This is where the job becomes more than

mere research since one must often employ methods of social engineering to discretely acquire

information without compromising the situation. A common tactic involves calling or visiting former

neighbors, employers or other known contacts to ask about the subject, sometimes under false or

misleading pretenses. In most jurisdictions this deception, known as pretexting (Pretexting is the practice

of getting your personal information under false pretenses.), is legal.

Records that "skip tracers" use may include phone number databases, credit reports (including

information provided on a loan application, credit card application, and in other debt collector databases),

job application information, criminal background checks, utility bills (electricity, gas, water, sewage,

phone, internet, and cable), social security, disability, and public tax information. While some of these

records may be publicly available, some cannot be accessed without an appropriate search warrant,

which is generally only available to law enforcement.

Even when no specific information is returned, public databases exist that cross-reference skip tracing

information with others the "skip" may have lived with within the recent past. For instance, if previous

records show a "skip" lived in the same house as a third party, the third party may also be "skip traced" in

an effort to locate the "skip". Also, see "Back tracing".

FugitiveA fugitive (or runaway) is a person who is fleeing from custody, whether it be from private slavery, a

government arrest, government or non-government questioning, vigilante violence, or outraged private

individuals. A fugitive from justice, also known as a wanted person[1][not in citation given] (Interpol uses the terms

fugitive and wanted person synonymously[2]), can either be a person convicted or accused of a crime,

who is hiding from law enforcement in the state or taking refuge in a different country in order to avoid

arrest in another country.[3]

Interpol is the international authority for the pursuit of trans-border fugitives. Europol is the European

authority for the pursuit of fugitives who are on the run within Europe, and coordinates their search, while

national authorities in the probable country of their stay coordinate their arrest. In theUnited States,

the U.S. Marshals Service is the primary law enforcement agency that tracks down federal fugitives,

though the Federal Bureau of Investigation also tracks fugitives.

As a verbal metaphor and psychological concept, one might also be described as a "fugitive from

oneself". Finally, the literary sense of "fugitive" includes the meaning of simply "fleeing".

Terminology

"On the lam" or "on the run" often refers to fugitives. Mencken's The American Language and The

Thesaurus of American Slang proclaim that lam, lamister, and "on the lam" — all referring to a hasty

departure — were common in thieves' slang before the turn of the twentieth century. Mencken quotes a

newspaper report on the origin of 'lam' which actually traces it indirectly back to Shakespeare's time.

Its origin should be obvious to anyone who runs over several colloquial phrases for leavetaking, such as

'beat it' and 'hit the trail'. The allusion in 'lam' is to 'beat,' and 'beat it' is Old English, meaning 'to leave.'

During the period of George Ade's 'Fables in Slang' (1900), cabaret society delight in talking slang, and

'lam' was current. Like many other terms, it went under in the flood of new usages of those days, but was

preserved in criminal slang. A quarter of a century later it reappeared.

Mencken also quotes a story from the New York Herald Tribune in 1938 which reported that "one of the

oldest police officers in New York said that he had heard "on the lam" thirty years ago."

Methods of finding fugitives

Various methods can be used to find fugitives. Phone taps and pen registers can be used on relatives.

Credit card and cell phone activities and electronic transfer of money can also be traced. Wanted

posters and rewards can also be used.[4] Jail records are also sometimes used; for instance, after the

U.S. Government determined that Timothy McVeigh had perpetrated the Oklahoma City Bombing, he was

found in a local jail. Various countermeasures can be used by fugitives, as described in books such

as The Paper Trip and Perpetual Traveler, to make it difficult for others to find them.

Pen registerA pen register is an electronic device that records all numbers called from a particular telephone line.

The term has come to include any device or program that performs similar functions to an original pen

register, including programs monitoring Internet communications.

Definitions

Title 18 of the United States Code defines a pen register as:

a device or process which records or decodes routing, addressing, or signaling information

transmitted by an instrument or facility from which a wire or electronic communication is

transmitted, provided, however, that such information shall not include the contents of any

communication, but such term does not include any device or process used by a provider or

customer of a wire or electronic communication service for billing, or recording as an incident to

billing, for communications services provided by such provider or any device or process used by

a provider or customer of a wire communication service for cost accounting or other like purposes

in the ordinary course of its business.[1]

This is the current definition of a Pen Register, as amended by passage of the 2001 USA PATRIOT Act.

The original statutory definition of a pen register was created in 1984 as part of the Electronic

Communications Privacy Act. That defined a 'Pen Register' as:

A device which records or decodes electronic or other impulses which identify the numbers called

or otherwise transmitted on the telephone line to which such device is dedicated.

A pen register is similar to a trap and trace device. A trap and trace device would show what

numbers had called a specific telephone, i.e. all incoming phone numbers. A pen register rather

would show what numbers a phone had called, i.e. all outgoing phone numbers. The two terms

are often used in concert, especially in the context of Internet communications. They are often

jointly referred to as "Pen Register or Trap and Trace devices," to reflect the fact that the same

program will probably do both functions in the modern era, and the distinction is not that

important. The term 'pen register' is often used to describe both pen registers and trap and trace

devices.