N.J. tightens reins on bounty hunters
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Last updated: Wednesday August 4, 2010, 11:15 AM
BY NICK CLUNN
The Record
STAFF WRITER
Bounty hunters in New Jersey can now call themselves licensed professionals as the state begins to corral an industry that is better known for its cowboys than its boy scouts.
The first licenses – 84 wallet-sized IDs with the words "Bounty Hunter" emblazoned across the top – were issued by New Jersey State Police several months ago in response to legislation that was designed to remove the kind of bad actors who mistook a Rutherford woman for a fugitive in 2005.
Those who support the licensing requirement, who include bounty hunters and the bail bond agents who hire them, say it helps legitimize an industry that operated without accountability.
But some of the same bounty hunters who support the idea of regulation, say few municipal police departments are asking for identification cards.
"I have yet to have any cop ask me for my New Jersey Bounty Hunters license," said Joe Banzaca, who goes hunting with his middle-aged nephew at least once a week for ASAP Bail Bonds in Hackensack. "It's just another way for this state to make money."
Michael Saudino, president of the Bergen County Police Chiefs Association and the top cop in Emerson, said he had heard of the law, but not that state police had issued licenses.
Police in Rutherford, however, have been required since March to make sure bounty hunters have licenses and valid warrants for the fugitives they are seeking, Police Director John Thompson said. Officers are also required to check for gun licenses — if a bounty hunter is carrying a gun — as part of a checklist developed as part of the new department rules.
Paterson police also now check for bounty hunter licenses, a spokesman said.
But procedures alone cannot address every possible eventuality, Thompson said. Intellect, the Constitution and guidelines from the state attorney general also should influence decisions, he said.
"It all comes down to a common sense approach with the officers involved," he said. "Each situation is different."
It was five years ago when two bounty hunters, with the approval of police, left Rutherford with a 37-year-old mother who was not the fugitive they set out to cuff. Claudia Santana was let go unharmed, but only after she said she feared being raped and murdered during a 35-mile ride to Dover, where she was exonerated by police there.
Police later charged one of the bounty hunters, William Whitaker, with unlawful possession of a weapon and hollow point bullets after he strutted into headquarters to answer questions about Santana with an unregistered pistol on his hip. Whitaker pleaded guilty and was sentenced to probation.
Four Rutherford officers involved in the mishap were initially fired, but then reinstated under less stringent punishments.
Santana said the ordeal and the publicity that followed raised awareness of the dangers posed by rogue bounty hunters among lawmakers and the public. Santana remembered when co-workers began to discuss the incident not knowing that she was at the center of the plot.
"I'm glad that it made a difference," she said. "At least something good has come out of it."
Bounty hunters encounter local police when they "check in" as a courtesy before going after a fugitive within their jurisdiction, and when they return a fugitive to the town that issued the warrant. Hunting without a license is a fourth-degree crime, which generally carries a maximum prison term of 18 months. The law does not include sentencing guidelines.
Police barred
At least four people have been charged under the act, said Sgt. Stephen Jones, a state police spokesman. One person charged, a 46-year-old man from Gloucester County, was moonlighting as a bounty hunter. He worked full time as a police officer for the Federal Reserve Bank in Philadelphia, Jones said. Police officers are not allowed to work as bounty hunters.
To get a license, applicants need five years of experience either as a law enforcement officer, a private detective or as an employee of a private detective. They also must have a clean criminal record, $300 for the application fee, and the written endorsement of "five reputable citizens," the rules state. State police denied 28 applications, recent figures show.
The law also gave bounty hunters a one-time opportunity to obtain a license based on job experience, but only if they also completed a two-day training course run by the state police at a fire academy in Sayreville.
Rob Atkins, a career bounty hunter who works for several bail bond agents in North Jersey, described the 16 hours of instruction as an accelerated police academy minus pushups. Abbreviated lessons on constitutional law, search and seizure and use of force attempted to inform bounty hunters on how to work without treading on the rights of others, Atkins said.
Students did not have to pass an exam to obtain a license, which is sometimes required of other regulated professions. The Bounty Hunter Licensing Act didn't call for a test.
The new rules have already helped weed out the adrenaline junkies who give bounty hunters a bad name when they get caught kicking down doors and committing other reckless acts, Atkins said.
"It got a lot of the knuckleheads off the street," he said.
Time limit
A bond agent will employ a bounty hunter to find a defendant whom they bailed out, but later skipped a court date. When that happens, agents have a certain amount of time to bring a fugitive to justice before that bond, or promise of bail, becomes due.
Agents before the law could hire whomever they wanted to chase "skips." Romanticized views of the profession coupled with no hiring rules opened the door to thrill-seekers and former criminals looking for a power trip.
Bond agents sometimes chase their own skips. But they're considered insurers, and are regulated by a different set of rules. The state Office of the Attorney General, after some deliberation, determined last year that the licensing act should not apply to agents.
Ron Olszowy, president of Nationwide Bail Bonds in Clifton and a former president of the industry's national trade group, said he agreed with that decision since agents were never the problem. Most good agents leave the hunting to the experts anyway, he said.
"If you think you're smart enough and tough enough to become a bounty hunter, and you're going to bring this guy in, God bless you," he said. "I'm a grandfather. What am I going to prove?"
The primary sponsor of the licensing act, former Democratic Assemblyman Peter J. Barnes II of Middlesex County, said he hopes the law encourages bounty hunters to act more professional, and less like Duane "Dog" Chapman, aka "Dog the Bounty Hunter."
Not that New Jersey would allow Chapman to work here anyway. Having served time in a Texas prison, the famous bounty hunter — with his own reality TV show — would not qualify for a state license.
"If the Dog isn't licensed under New Jersey statutes, he can't come in here," Barnes said.
Bounty hunters in New Jersey can now call themselves licensed professionals as the state begins to corral an industry that is better known for its cowboys than its boy scouts.
The first licenses – 84 wallet-sized IDs with the words "Bounty Hunter" emblazoned across the top – were issued by New Jersey State Police several months ago in response to legislation that was designed to remove the kind of bad actors who mistook a Rutherford woman for a fugitive in 2005.
Those who support the licensing requirement, who include bounty hunters and the bail bond agents who hire them, say it helps legitimize an industry that operated without accountability.
But some of the same bounty hunters who support the idea of regulation, say few municipal police departments are asking for identification cards.
"I have yet to have any cop ask me for my New Jersey Bounty Hunters license," said Joe Banzaca, who goes hunting with his middle-aged nephew at least once a week for ASAP Bail Bonds in Hackensack. "It's just another way for this state to make money."
NJ now regulates bounty hunters and requires them to apply for a license.
Michael Saudino, president of the Bergen County Police Chiefs Association and the top cop in Emerson, said he had heard of the law, but not that state police had issued licenses.
Police in Rutherford, however, have been required since March to make sure bounty hunters have licenses and valid warrants for the fugitives they are seeking, Police Director John Thompson said. Officers are also required to check for gun licenses — if a bounty hunter is carrying a gun — as part of a checklist developed as part of the new department rules.
Paterson police also now check for bounty hunter licenses, a spokesman said.
But procedures alone cannot address every possible eventuality, Thompson said. Intellect, the Constitution and guidelines from the state attorney general also should influence decisions, he said.
"It all comes down to a common sense approach with the officers involved," he said. "Each situation is different."
It was five years ago when two bounty hunters, with the approval of police, left Rutherford with a 37-year-old mother who was not the fugitive they set out to cuff. Claudia Santana was let go unharmed, but only after she said she feared being raped and murdered during a 35-mile ride to Dover, where she was exonerated by police there.
Police later charged one of the bounty hunters, William Whitaker, with unlawful possession of a weapon and hollow point bullets after he strutted into headquarters to answer questions about Santana with an unregistered pistol on his hip. Whitaker pleaded guilty and was sentenced to probation.
Four Rutherford officers involved in the mishap were initially fired, but then reinstated under less stringent punishments.
Santana said the ordeal and the publicity that followed raised awareness of the dangers posed by rogue bounty hunters among lawmakers and the public. Santana remembered when co-workers began to discuss the incident not knowing that she was at the center of the plot.
"I'm glad that it made a difference," she said. "At least something good has come out of it."
Bounty hunters encounter local police when they "check in" as a courtesy before going after a fugitive within their jurisdiction, and when they return a fugitive to the town that issued the warrant. Hunting without a license is a fourth-degree crime, which generally carries a maximum prison term of 18 months. The law does not include sentencing guidelines.
Police barred
At least four people have been charged under the act, said Sgt. Stephen Jones, a state police spokesman. One person charged, a 46-year-old man from Gloucester County, was moonlighting as a bounty hunter. He worked full time as a police officer for the Federal Reserve Bank in Philadelphia, Jones said. Police officers are not allowed to work as bounty hunters.
To get a license, applicants need five years of experience either as a law enforcement officer, a private detective or as an employee of a private detective. They also must have a clean criminal record, $300 for the application fee, and the written endorsement of "five reputable citizens," the rules state. State police denied 28 applications, recent figures show.
The law also gave bounty hunters a one-time opportunity to obtain a license based on job experience, but only if they also completed a two-day training course run by the state police at a fire academy in Sayreville.
Rob Atkins, a career bounty hunter who works for several bail bond agents in North Jersey, described the 16 hours of instruction as an accelerated police academy minus pushups. Abbreviated lessons on constitutional law, search and seizure and use of force attempted to inform bounty hunters on how to work without treading on the rights of others, Atkins said.
Students did not have to pass an exam to obtain a license, which is sometimes required of other regulated professions. The Bounty Hunter Licensing Act didn't call for a test.
The new rules have already helped weed out the adrenaline junkies who give bounty hunters a bad name when they get caught kicking down doors and committing other reckless acts, Atkins said.
"It got a lot of the knuckleheads off the street," he said.
E-mail: clunn@northjersey.com
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