Advanced Tactical Solutions Fugitive Recovery & Bail Enforcement
Each year, thousands of people are on the run after skipping court bail. Many of them are facing serious charges, such as rape, murder or robbery. Fugitive recovery agencies such as Advanced Tactical Solutions, are entitled to locate fugitives and return them to custody. The successful tracking and re-arrest average across the country for all recovery agents is about 97 percent of all individuals they pursue.
The Supreme Court has recognized that “bounty hunters” are proxies of the state with police powers who have a right to pursue a fugitive across state lines. It has also recognized that the fugitive signed over custody to the bail bonding agent when they signed the bail contract. Therefore, the bail enforcement agent has the legal right to track them across state lines, in their homes or at their place of employment often to a greater extent than local law enforcement.
State License #PDSC001752
What do ATS Bail Enforcement Officers Do?
If a defendant is released from jail on bond but decides to not follow the rules of their bail and flees, a Fugitive Recovery Agent may be hired by the bail bondsman to recover the defendant. In some cases, the Fugitive Recovery Agent works independently. A Fugitive Recovery Agent is the person with the job of making sure a defendant out on bail or awaiting trial follows the conditions of his bail. This means not running away, staying away from certain people, places, or activities illegal in nature.
The Fugitive Recovery Agent is different from the police or judges who enforce laws, but are none the less responsible for some of the things a court or correctional facility would handle. Other parts of the job include making sure the person out on bail pays the bail in full, tracking down a defendant who has jumped bail, and re-arrest the defendant if necessary.
As a bail recovery agency, ATS will seek out fugitives, interview their families and friends, collect evidence and arrest defendants who FTA (Fail to Appear) and/or skip bail. ATS agents, will be allowed to enter a fugitive’s residence, their automobile to track them down, without a warrant, once local authorities are notified of such a possible apprehension. Their duties and responsibilities may include:
- Performing background checks.
- Reviewing each case and conducting further investigation.
- Researching the laws in every country or state involved in the fugitive pursuit.
- Complying with the local laws and regulations.
- Conducting surveillance.
- Cooperating with local Police and Sheriff’s departments.
- Gathering and analyzing evidence.
ATS agents will usually carry firearms, stun-guns, pepper spray, pepper ball rifles and other specialized weapons, but we will never use excessive force, unless our lives or individuals lives around us are in danger or threatened with bodily harm. We strictly adhere to the regulations set by the State and we know exactly what we can and cannot do. ATS agents are fully identified by clothing and other marks on their person at all times. All fees are usually pre-negotiated with the local bail bonds agency or the work is performed on a set contractual basis.
Bail Enforcement vs. Skip Tracers
Skip tracers have been around for some time. Recently though, they’ve seen their value rise due to a little phenomenon called “big data”. Big data is a reference to the fact that most people create a digital trail wherever they go these days. This data trail is recorded and stored by companies like Google and Bing. Additional traceable information is created every time a person uses a credit card or store loyalty card, every time their smartphone pings a nearby cell tower or they use the internet.
The job of the skip tracer is to sift through this digital data until they are able to come up with information that point to a likely location for the fugitive. This type of searching can save a lot of time and expense and pinpoint the likely location of a suspect far faster than the old school method of going door to door or staking out suspected hideouts.
Once the skip tracer nails down with a high degree of probability where the fugitive is hiding, they typically turn that information over to the bail bondsman who may pass it on to the Fugitive Recovery Agent, or they may simply alert local police.
In most cases the bail bond agent will call the Fugitive Recovery Agent, whose only job now is to go grab the fugitive and return him to custody. This new two pronged attack is often much more efficient and effective than the typical “bounty hunter” only approach and is being widely adopted in states that are still wise enough to retain the cash bail system.
Bounty Hunter vs. Recovery Agent
Although many people including state regulators and the media often refer to bail bond fugitive recovery agents as “bounty hunters” there is an important distinction. Fugitive Recovery Agents a/k/a Bail Enforcement Agents are unique to the United States and orbit the commercial bail bond business, they act as agents of bail bond companies for the purpose of enforcing the conditions of the bail bond contract.
Fugitive Recovery Agents work pursuant to a written contract and they are included in the legal framework of the bail bond regulatory system. Bounty Hunters are those that are in the business of tracking and / or capturing fugitives for the purpose of collecting a reward offered by government and non government organizations, they normally operate autonomously rather than by contract.
While some governments are known to employ bounty hunters similar to mercenaries, most simply offer a monetary reward and pay anyone that can produce their fugitive with some limited exceptions i.e. many governments will not pay rewards / bounties to government officials.
In short, a Fugitive Recovery Agent is a person hired or contracted by a bail bond company or surety to act as their agent for the purpose of locating and apprehending a fugitive that has failed to appear in court or has otherwise violated the bail bond contract or release conditions. Fugitive Recovery Agents are sometimes referred to as bail enforcement agents or bounty hunters.
