Everything You Need to Know About
Fugitive Recovery
Crime rates across the United States of America are soaring. Justice catches up with the perpetrators sooner or later. A fugitive is described as a person who is on the run from Justice. Criminal law has statutory provisions to put criminals to trial under relevant statutory law. When a fugitive is at liberty, it can be a threat to the society. To effectively manage the crime rates, fugitive recovery is important to catch the them and hand them over to justice. The right place for criminals is behind bars.
What is Fugitive Recovery?
The job of a fugitive recovery agent is to catch persons running away from justice and to put them behind bars so that they can be tried as per the legal provisions listed in various statutes. Persons accused of crimes, fraud, economic offences often disappear despite providing the assurance that they shall make it to court appearances. This can defeat the purpose of justice altogether. Not only is it detrimental to the victims and stakeholders, it is also detrimental for the society as a whole. When a fugitive is on the run, there is a greater possibility of the perpetrator repeating the crime. This can endanger the security of many other people as well.
Multi-tasking a Prerequisite
Fugitive recovery calls for immense personal judgment as well as the dexterity to “wear many hats,” and multi-task, depending upon the type of recovery.
Agents are usually self-employed professionals. It is therefore an important precondition of the job to be constantly aware of the government statutes and legal provisions. The agents should also have knowledge and awareness about the varying rules and regulations for agents in different states. The agent must be well aware of state wise restrictions that prohibit bounty hunters from carrying firearms or entering a fugitive’s home in order to make an arrest.
Who Hires Fugitive Recovery Agents?
Bail agents are usually the ones to employ fugitive recovery agents. A bail agent is a person who furnishes a bail bond on behalf of a criminal. In simple terms a bail agent is a person, usually a relative or friend of the accused, who pays a certain sum of money as a bail bond to assure the authorities that the accused will appear before the court. Bail bonds are often also furnished by licensed bail bondsmen.
Why Do People Hire Fugitive Recovery Agents?
A fugitive recovery agent is hired to track down the fugitives by carrying out an ardent evaluation into their previous locations, details and more. An agent is a person who has the required skill and prowess in carrying out background checks and surveillance procedures to be able to track the current location of fugitives. They have to be adept at finding out about the whereabouts of a person based on their previous sightings, financial records, phone calls and accounts of witnesses. Fugitive recovery plays an important role in the delivery of justice.
What Rights Do Fugitive Recovery Agents Have?
Where Do They Get Their Authority?
The laws governing the services of Fugitive recovery agents vary from state to state. There are states that confer upon the recovery agents the right to arrest. There are other states that do not allow bounty hunters to make arrests. In many states across America bounty hunters can only go as far as informing the authorities. Police officers are immune to legal trial if they cause bodily harm or injury to an accused person in course of their action. Agents do not have similar legal protections against injuries to non-fugitives who get injured in the process of taking action upon the accused.
Where Can They Make an Arrest?
Certain states in America such as Kentucky, Illinois and Oregon do not allow fugitive recovery agents to make arrests. Then there are other states that place certain other restriction on the rights of a bounty hunter in his pursuit of the accused person.
One of the most important requirements here is for the bounty hunter or fugitive recovery agent to have the requisite license. It is therefore extremely important to keep in mind, while hiring a bounty hunter that he has the required license. In the absence of this license the accused may exploit this statutory loophole to escape from the clutches of justice.
Can They Carry Guns?
The right of bounty hunters, fugitive recovery agents or so called bail agents to carry firearms varies from one state to another. It depends upon the jurisdiction of each state if the bounty hunters can carry guns, though most agents carry less lethal weapons.
How Much Does it Cost to Hire a Fugitive Recovery Agent?
Usually hiring the services of a bounty hunter costs about 10% of the total amount of the bail bond furnished. It can also be much more if the accused has a previous record of being a hardened criminal or a professional.
The sum paid by the bail agent is called the bail bond. This is the amount required to secure the provisional liberty of the accused person. The fees of a bounty hunter is usually 10 percent of this sum. Although a fugitive recovery agent is usually hired by the bail agents, they are often also hired by the victims, investigators and even the state police departments. The bail agent stands to lose his money if the defendant doesn’t appear in court.
The Difference Between Fugitive Recovery and Bounty Hunting
Although the terms bounty hunter, bail bond agent and fugitive recovery agent are usually used interchangeably, there is vast difference between their professional operations. A fugitive recovery agent is a person who is legally licenced to secure the recovery of a fugitive person. The job of an agent is specifically to hand over a fugitive to justice.
A fugitive recovery agent is usually specially trained in skills such as surveillance, finding out previous criminal records, last sightings, previous criminal backgrounds as well as likely hideouts. In terms of the style of operation as well as the training, a fugitive recovery agent is a lot like a law enforcement officer.
A bounty hunter is a relatively more generic and broad term. A bounty hunter is a person usually off the street who may not have a license. Since bounty hunters don’t have licenses, they usually cannot carry guns or firearms. A bounty hunter may or may not have received any kind of special training.