New
mhttp://www.northjersey.com/news/crimea ... e=2easures rein in bounty hunters Saturday, August 23, 2008
Last updated: Saturday August 23, 2008, EDT 1:53 PM BY KAREN KELLERSTAFF WRITER
Scores of handcuff-wielding bounty hunters in New Jersey have been operating illegally for decades, many without even knowing it. But now, thanks to a 2006 state act taking effect this summer, word is spreading that the Garden State is no longer the Wild West.
The new regulations affect bounty hunters in Passaic County such as Joseph Rosario, 21, who's been working for the Carl Ellen Bail Bonding Agency in Passaic for a year and a half. Under new guidelines, he won't be eligible to do the job. Bounty hunters must be 25 years old and have at least five years' experience in law enforcement or as a private investigator.
Misinformation has plagued the industry, with bounty-hunting schools, including one in Passaic, offering certification and badges to people with no law enforcement experience and who are unaware the school's certifications hold no legal standing. As a result, bounty hunters have sometimes caught the wrong person.
In 2005, two bounty hunters in Rutherford nabbed a 37-year-old innocent woman. She was placed in handcuffs, thrown in the back of a van and driven 35 miles to the Dover police station. The bounty hunters were also illegally carrying unlicensed guns.
"We're going to regulate an industry that's kind of running wild out there," said Detective Sgt. Jim Bryan of the New Jersey State Police. "People are violating other people's rights. People are kicking in the wrong doors."
Schools are also teaching bad techniques, he said. In one case, Bryan said, a school instructed students to pepper-spray a person who answers the door regardless of whether it's the person being sought, to gain access to the home and find the target person.
The state has no statistics on bounty hunters because it's never tracked them.
"We don't know the scope," Bryan said. "Depending on which associations you [talk to], you hear 50 bounty hunters [in New Jersey]. The next association will tell you there's 500. We have no idea."
Bounty hunters are paid by a bail bondsman to apprehend someone who's out on bail but who missed a court appearance. But the job originated in the 19th century. Slave owners dispatched men to catch escaped slaves. In 1872, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that bail bondsmen can seize and detain bail skippers.
The 1872 ruling is cited erroneously by current unlicensed bounty hunters to justify their job as legal, Bryan said.
"[Those] were the Wild West days, [and] it's what these guys are hanging their hat on." But in 1932, New Jersey state law required bounty hunters to have state-issued private detective licenses. That law still holds. The 2006 act merely helps legalize experienced bounty hunters who don't have private detective licenses.
Most states don't regulate bounty hunters, Bryan said.
In New Jersey, the state will offer a one-time 16-hour training course, slated for November, for applicants with a minimum of five years' experience as a private investigator or in law enforcement. The state has received 50 applications since July 1, when it began accepting registrants. Some applicants work in states that don't regulate the industry and hope that a New Jersey license will make them appear more professional, Bryan said.
New Jersey won't allow private companies to offer state-certified training courses, Bryan said.
On July 1, federal officials arrested two men in connection with distribution in Passaic and Brooklyn of fake badges that look like New York City police shields. The men, Ralph Rios of Florida and Robert Neves of Staten Island, ran a school called the U.S. Recovery Bureau, with offices in Brooklyn and on Main Avenue in Passaic.
The New York Daily News reported on Aug. 12 that among the company's 943 graduates, 78 were convicted felons. Among them was Darryl Littlejohn, who used his phony badge to pose as a law enforcer and get a job as a bouncer at a Manhattan bar, where he met Imette St. Guillen, a graduate student he is accused of murdering.
A local business owner at 701 Main Ave. in Passaic said the school operated on the second floor for two or three years and closed a few months ago. Roshan Nadaraja said he saw the phony badges and that he thought they were real."All these people want to be cowboys," he said.
Ana-Marie Martell, manager of the Paterson office of Martell Bail Bonds, said her company has never hired a graduate of the U.S. Recovery Bureau. She only hires ex-cops and detectives for "skips" - slang referring to people out on bail who missed their court date.
"I don't give people the time of day unless they're licensed cops or detectives," Martell said. "It's very delicate when you're dealing with someone to do skips for you."
But Rosario, the 21-year-old bounty hunter in Passaic, said he's a graduate of U.S. Recovery Bureau, and that he learned a lot there. He paid $850 to take a three-day course in bounty hunting a couple of years ago, he said.
When he's working, the 6-foot-3-inch Passaic native, who weighs 270 pounds, wears a badge around his neck issued by the U.S. Recovery Bureau. It depicts a scale, says "Bail Enforcement Officer," and is shaped like a New York City badge. He brings with him a flashlight, pepper spray, a baton and handcuffs, and wears a $1,400 bulletproof vest. He said he always immediately identifies himself as a bail enforcement agent.
Last year, he made 15 to 20 arrests, he said. He typically earns 10 percent of the bail amount. He said he's only been unable to find one person, who flew to the Dominican Republic on $100,000 bail. Rosario works as a bounty hunter part time; he has a full-time job repairing Camaros and Firebirds, he said.
Rosario always wanted to be a police officer. But he didn't score high on the state test, he said. Bounty hunting "was the next best thing," he said Friday at Ellen's office on Passaic Street.
"It's fun. It's an adrenaline rush. You never know what's going to happen," Rosario said.
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New measures rein in bounty hunters
The Truth says:
continued;
Mr Holmes, those badges were far from fake as before and until regulation, they are 100% legal. nonsense 1, what makes Mr Rosario an untrained degenerate??. I will agree that the "USRB" Training class was a sham, but authorities on ALL levels have been informed for years now of their deception by many legitimate Bounty Hunters accross America who were trained and mentored from some fine upstanding Training Schools that continue to educate these Agents to the highest level.There were also MANY arrests and charges placed on these graduates that were highly publicized in primarily NY newspapers which left no secret in anyones mind as to this problem. Some of these very Schools are accepted as Certified Instructors for the "MANY" States that are now regulating Bail Agents accross the country, "NOT" just a few.The propper procedure would be to regulate bounty hunters at a "Federal Level", but then individual States wouldn't be able to cash in on THEIR OWN regulatory fees.
8/24/2008 2:17PM EDT
The Truth says:Bail Enforcement Agents/Bounty Hunters are an essential need in our judicial system. This entity captures over 95% of all fugitives on the run as Law Enforcement cannot handle this position due to their own work load and the need for too many man hours and salarys. Bare in mind, Bail Enforcement costs the tax payers nothing. As being a former LEO, Joe, your outlook mirrors that of the Rutherford incident which simply occured due to lack of training on the Police Officers part. The media went crazy with this situation by inaccurate details, the same as this very article. Ms Santana was "NOT" "thrown" in anyones vehichle and was "NOT" left at the curb in Dover,as then publicized, her husband followed the agents there in his own car and they returned home after properly being fingerprinted and released. Also, these arresting Agents were from PA, "NOT" N.J.. The lawyers swarmed and advised her of a cash cow if she sued and that she took full advantage of. Well, this cost the city of Rutherford taxpayers $750,000,00 and left poor Ms Santana with a big smile on her face for sure, poor girl.
8/24/2008 2:16PM EDT
joe says:i agree with mr. holmes comment.law enforcement should handle this . but mr.rosario means well.he should go to the police acadamy and become a cop.i am a retired police captain.god bless to all.JOE.
8/24/2008 10:17AM EDT
nonsense1 says:Rosario is an excellent example of an untrained degenerate running around with a fake shield. Before using him as a main part of this article a little background on him and his family should have been done. They are in and out of the court system on a weekly basis!
8/24/2008 9:27AM EDT
John C.Holmes says:We dont need these degenerates with phony shields running around picking up bail jumpers.Lets leave law enforcement to the professionals.
8/23/2008 5:11PM EDT
** Looks like somebody is telling the TRUTH!!. ...................
