Policing our own

A couple of weeks ago my landlord called me asking questions about the power of recovery agents. The reason being was because 3 men came to a residence on one of his properties and were harassing the brother of a state parolee. However, these gentlemen refused to show any credentials, badges, paperwork, and just gruffly replied "look we're bounty hunters". They seemed more interested in the guy's truck than the supposed skip...this is where it gets better.

They start sitting on his property more and more late at night. It got to be enough so the man told these fools that his brother is not to be found on the property. This is when I was contacted. My landlord also is my girlfriend's step-dad and knows what I do and professionalism I strive to bring daily to the job. I got the number of the man (whom I'll call a victim) and spoke with him for quite a while. Apparently these men are claiming he jumped parole and has warrants and they need his truck and the deputies to arrest him. Sounds fishy yet?

So I got the supposed bounty hunter's first name, "Russ", and number. I called this yahoo and played dumb. What I was hoping for was for him to say he was some sort of law - as, allegedly, the victim's neighbor said (they may have identified themselves as "Marshals") - his first words were "you know what happens when they send a bounty hunter after a truck?". He finally relented he was a repo' man and also a recovery agent for a few companies in middle Georgia (which I doubt but whatever I can always replay the conversation to those interested) and offerred me $100 to find the truck.

I called back the victim and told him that if these guys came back up there to call the sheriff's office and have a deputy come over and deal with them. He was greatly appreciative I took the time to help and offer advice and I truly help I have helped not only him but also the industry.

These are the first cowboys nor the last, but it sickens me, SICKENS ME, that there are still those out there who act like this and operate without any restraint nor legality. Since that phone conversation they have not returned but honestly I hope they do and hope they get arrested. I know, bad publicity for the industry...but I'd rather a bi-line in a local paper than more people falling victim to these rogues. I think this is a good place to help police our own and the industry and if we hear something off color we should post it, perhaps in a separate forum, and use it as an "all call" or BOLO for those who are hurting this professionalism and appearance we strive to maintain.

If there are any other GA agents or bondsman here who have heard of this guy or sounds familiar please PM me, e-mail, or call me.

Also, I hope that I handled that in a way that appropriately reflects the attitudes and values of true professionals in this business.

Thanks guys,

Ben

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There is something to be learned from a rainstorm. When meeting with a sudden shower, you try not to get wet and run quickly along the road. But doing such things as passing under the eaves of houses, you still get wet. When you are resolved from the beginning, you will not be perplexed, though you still get the same soaking. This understanding extends to everything. - From the Hagakure

I am interested in what he said directly after the . . . . "you know what happens when they send a bounty hunter after a truck"

I am not from GA. but I do know that at one time I saw on a members website that he was also a "Repo" man.
I am not doubting what you have written but from experience I know that every time a "victim" tells the tale some gets added some gets subtracted and then when a third party repeats it, it changes to the way that they perceived what was said. That is why is it so very important to dig deep.

As far as posting "Beware of Bad Guys" that would not be a good idea in the Open Section . . . too many ops for "Personal Vendettas" . . . we have been down that road. Always remember what you write can be googled and may (no "will")be used against you down the road.

Do we "police" our own ? You betcha

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Do not consider anything for your interest which makes you break your word, quit your modesty, or inclines you to any practice which will not bear the light, or look the world in the face .... Marcus Antonius

I AM Some Folks "KARMA" and A MODERATOR @ FRN

I think I know who Russ is but I have no info on him. If it is who I think, I spoke to him once while working south of my regular area. Seemed like a decent guy but I will not say any more because I am not sure if it is the same person.

I also know that there are many in Georgia that have multiple streams of income. Repo, Security, Consulting, and Bail Recovery are typically heard by Bail recovery Operators in Georgia. I know of a gentalman that lists all of these plus several Truck and Equipment Sales businesses....add that to his Bonding business and his law office and he sounds like he has no idea what he wants to do. He may sound very unprofessional however, he runs the Law and Sales offices while a partner runs the Bonding and Security stuff. He lists these because he is approved, certified, and/or licensed to do all the above but in reality, he works only a small portion.

I mean, I have worked Process Service, Repo, Security Details, Security Consulting, and Bail Recovery within the same time period. So long as it is legal, I am not turning down the money. Although I am able to do all of these listed jobs, should a Government Contract come up and be available to me....I would do that too. The only thing that would interfere with any of these is if the "work" is considered within the realm of PI work. I am not a PI and Georgia does not consider Bail Recovery, Process Service, or Skip Tracing as any part of the required experience to obtain that licensing. Working this type of investigation can (and probably would) lead to fines and jail time, depending on the officers and Judge involved.


Oh, (as sort of a side note) much of this is listed on the Secretary of State website. The Georgia Board of Private Detective and Security Agencies are very strict on what they allow and aprove. Even military experience must state "specifically" that you have the required hours in investigation. Almost no other experience is counted other than LE experience. I am in a debate with them now to explain how a patrol officer has the required experience while I (a full time Bail Recovery Investigator/Skip Tracer/Process Server/repossessor) does not have experience that counts.....even with my military investigator experience. They say that LE investigates any and every situation that they are called to and are professional interogators/interviewers because of it. My question is "How much time do we spend interviewing/interogating/SkipTracing/survielling that an officer on a patrol beat would never recieve???" And now that I think I got way off subject........Back to our regularly scheduled program.

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Thomas SnoWolf
FRN# 1999
GAPB 20120726
NSIS ST0707
http://www.rocksolidrg.com
"The hero is not the man that acts without fear,
He is the man that acts inspite of fear"

Just this past week here in Tn. a so called BEA was arrested on charges of driving on a revoked license(revoked in 2007)possesion of fake drivers license,unlawful possesion of a firearm(no carry permit)and was also charged with having red and blue lights in his vehicle.This guy had been running scams on alot of people.He was just about to hit a house to get a skip when he was busted,so if LE would have waited a little longer they would have had him for kidnapping as well.I worked with him one time not to long ago and never worked with him again.He had a bad aura if that makes sense to anyone,something about him didnt sit right with me.My partner had me go with him and this guy and the stories he told and the way he acted while we were working was very unprofessional.I told my partner to never call me if you plan on working with this guy,lost a little bit of money by not going on some cases but I could not tolerate this man.I heard a few things about him also from another BEA that i worked with frequently,Turns out that that BEA had some gear stolen by him and also lost alot of money due to this man lying about the pay he was recieving from bondsman.Also lying to bondsman by taking up front expense money and stating he left state to chase thier fugitive when he never even left TOWN!!Anyway,I post this here because the reason he was caught for those offenses was directly due to another BEA doing all he could to make sure that he was caught.Also this goes to show that bondsman need to 1.listen to other BEA's when they tell you that the BEA he is working with is not licensed in anyway or trained and 2.do your homework or at least run a background check on your BEA's.A background check is what ultimately did this man in,on top of a bondsman and a few other agents that he scammed.I personaly wasnt affected by this man but profesionally we all are.I do know the people that were directly responsible for his arrest and to them i say thank you and respect what they did.As of Saturday this man was still in jail.Is only being held on 1000 dollar bond but the bonding companies around here will not take his case due to that fact that he had been scamming a few of them.
I believe, Sno,you may know this man.hopefully he hasnt scammed you in anyway.He is on your friends list on facebook.

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Jay Crawford
Eagle Eye Fugitive Recovery
"based out of Bethpage Tn."
Cell:(931)551-5020

Jay . . . is there a news article ? If so please post in the "Media Section"

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Do not consider anything for your interest which makes you break your word, quit your modesty, or inclines you to any practice which will not bear the light, or look the world in the face .... Marcus Antonius

I AM Some Folks "KARMA" and A MODERATOR @ FRN

I dont believe this one was in the news LuVonda,Although i personaly seen the mug shot and arrest report.I will check the arrest report for you because at the moment I cannot recall the county this took place in.

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Jay Crawford
Eagle Eye Fugitive Recovery
"based out of Bethpage Tn."
Cell:(931)551-5020

This happened in Clarksville TN. in montgomery county.

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Jay Crawford
Eagle Eye Fugitive Recovery
"based out of Bethpage Tn."
Cell:(931)551-5020

I have a comment on this subject (ya reckon??)

I have been a licensed bondsman for a little over 10 years. I am a retired trucker with close to 30 years over the road... I have owned an operated several business including a motel, restaurant, bar, gun shop... just trying to give you a handle that I have a fair amount of business sense... whether I was successful or not is not my point... I do have a lot of experience dealing with all sorts of people, that is all I am trying to point out...

I have been on this site for 3 or so years... I know we are read by a very wide variety of people that range from very professional to very unprofessional... wannabees, cowboys all the way back to the members that have practiced this profession since I was a lad...

I know that I tend to be a bit over the top when it comes to telling tales and giving advice and my persona is peppered with my own style of humor (which I am sure is viewed by some as a bit... unprofessional) I can certainly understand that view but allow me this...

I have the utmost respect for the more serious members of this site and many that I have come in contact with outside of FRN and the internet... that do not post here or anywhere that I am aware. I look at this profession as simply 'a job'... an interesting and unusual job but still .... "just a job"... There are way too many people in life that take life way too serious... life is supposed to be fun, interesting and although you should be serious in your profession as to being properly licensed, schooled, legal and strive for acceptance by your peers and others that you deal with on a daily basis... you still (IMHO) should keep a smile and try and be upbeat in your dealings with all that you contact.

I think we all have been in contact with other members of our profession that we were not impressed with... not to say they were not very professional, serious and had all the proper credentials but for one reason or another... we just did not like dealing with that person.... happens to even me on occasion... and I am sure that there are people out there that view me as the "class clown" and that is frankly, ok with me... I would rather be this way than ........... toooo serious.... it works for me but not for everyone.

We have discussed this a lot on here but we each have to decide who and how we deal with others in life.... in and out of our profession. Often, we come in contact, as mentioned, with people that we have to interact with but just frankly do not like.... part of life, I fear.

Anyway, policing our own is a very important part of this business.... but keep this in mind... just because someone is new or has not gained the experience that you may have... does not necessarily mean they are bad news... and also.... just because someone is totally legal and has all the proper credentials does not necessarily mean they are good news...

Judge your associates in many lights, each may have characteristics that you can use and do not always go by first impressions... they are usually but not always correct. Sometimes it may take several meetings to get a handle on someone, so be diligent and take your time in your evaluations.

... and if the person you are scrutinizing turns out to be a bad apple.............. toss him, but just be sure.

_________________
Bill Marx, Sr.
"FREE STATE BAIL BONDS"
"FREE STATE INVESTIGATIONS"
DCJS: 99-176979
Cell: 434-294-0222

"Endeavor to Persevere" "Lone Watie"

"Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that , comes from bad judgment" "Will Rogers"

Bill,
you may have the "class clown" persona but you do have wisdom in between there so you have my respect for whatever that is worth!! I do agree with you,you need to get a feel for a person and maybe it does take more than one interaction with them.In my last post I just had a gut feeling about the man on top of watching how he worked and I did my own research on him.Finally came to the conclusion that i did not want to work around him or be associated with him either.
So as I said i agree and believe people should make thier own decisions on others in this industry or in anything for that matter.Sometimes people just get a bad rep because someone else just didnt like them,so as i have said before..do your own research on a person before you take the word of another.I also agree that just because they are legal and have alot of experience it doesnt make them good or even a nice person.The new people doing this are just that,new.You never know who trained them and maybe they just need a little more guidance.Again,do your own research on someone you plan on working with and dont judge a book by its cover.
on policing our own subject,I believe it is a necessary thing due to the wanna bes and cowboys causing us all heartache in this industry with thier bad publicity.They need to be dealt with in one way or another if we are to remain a industry.

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Jay Crawford
Eagle Eye Fugitive Recovery
"based out of Bethpage Tn."
Cell:(931)551-5020

As has been said on here before, ad nauseum, the industry is full of type A personalities. It takes a special kind of person to approach this trade and an even more eccentric type to succeed. Because of that, we have individuals that are over powering as well as individuals that are introverts and everywhere in between. When I first got into this industry, there were no internet resources, it was harder and required a completely different skill set than it does currently. You had to be able to cold call and talk to people, assimilate into neighborhoods you would not live in, and develop a list of snitches that you paid a little to when ever you saw them. You had to protect this resource, because you never knew when you would need them. This was my first taste of real networking, being able to utilize somebody else's snitch and they yours. In my opinion, the best Hunters employ a mix of the old skill sets as well as the new electronic ones. There are some people that are off of the grid and there is no substitute for feet on the ground investigations. Hell, I have locked up people living in a truck cap that was sitting on the ground! 20 degrees out and driving to the jail with all of the windows down!

I have come across all kinds of hunters, some very successful, that were always on the fringe of the law, but they produced results. As long as they produced results, no bondsman cared how they got it done. You are not going to correct or teach that segment of this business anything. There are others that have a deep seated desire to be a police officer, but cannot due to inability to qualify, criminal convictions etc. These are a very dangerous bunch because their behavior is not predictable. Their desire to be in charge, or to be the community savior out weighs logic and the law. There are others that will blindly follow a mentor, no matter how wrong or illegal that guy operates and anyone that challenges them on methodology, the law, illegal actions etc is summarily dismissed. Some people are just natural born leaders, and we call them Pimps, Dictators etc.

We, who apply this craft, above all else are students of people. We study behaviors, sometimes without knowing it. It is the desire to learn that separates us from the rank and file. That same desire breeds success. Some people are teachable, some people are reactors, some people are followers, some people are leaders. It is our responsibility to identify which type of personality we are dealing with and utilize it to our best advantage while keeping that individual in their comfort zone.

Scott

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R.E. "Scott" MacLean III

"Leaders are like Eagles, you never see them in a flock, but one at a time"

Chesapeake Group Investigations, Inc.
Chesapeake Bail Bonds
877-574-0500
301-392-1100 (fax)
301-392-1900 (Office)