Case load question?

I was just wondering how many cases would you or should you work on at a given time. Or should your focus be on catching one skip at a time. Thanks for the help, Johannes

The answer to that is very simple and very complex at the same time it all depends on you and you team-what are you capable of ? can you devote enough time to each? what are the logistics of the cases? are they spread out all over gods creation or neatly packed in the same area?all of these these aspects need to be answered by you before you commit to to much work--remember one arrest is and payment is better than working a load of cases and finding nobody--personally I enjoy a large caseload it forces me to get serious and concentrate on the task at hand--when the leads dry up on one case or we are waiting on info i'll go to another until i get what i need--also you have to set priorities --the case closest to forfiture needs to be worked first--as you can see there are alot of variables to consider.--as a pd detective i worked as many as 100 cases at one time sometimes alot more as a bea sometimes we will work 10 at a time my partner and i are waiting for the go ahead for 354 case right now--out of that number i know we will find some dead people others already in jail some beyond reach in other countries-some had their warrents recalled or dropped--slowly but surely we will scoop up each one--so as you can see there is no pat answer for your question

Exactly Hadley, I can be working up to 100 cases at a time, some just re-schedule court dates (most of them), some are already in jail (quite common), some have died (happens every now and then), and quite a few others just plain forgot their court date and resolve it with a phone call. Out of all of my case load at any one time I may be actually hunting up to 20.

My positioin is unique in that, my full time paying job is for a man that owns 2 Bail Bonding companies and I am his only BEA. Some refer to it as in house employee which is accurate, at least I can count on a pay check every week while out hunting fugitives. The down side is that if I was on a comission basis I would have made alot more money.

In my experience police investigators work 100 plus cases and much more at any one time. The average BEA does not have enough cases to work 100 plus. ALthough persons like Bob, myself, and others usually work at the "surety" level. Meaning way above average case load amounts. The average case load a surety agent can handle is about 35-40. Most average caseloads nationwide are much smaller due to regional factors. I think most here wouls agree. For example there is a much higher population and larger bail amounts than say in Alaska ( no offense to our Alaska people) And much higher population in Houston than in Mid-America. So it also largely depends on region. But 35-40 is a nice case load. Strictly from an arrest and processing standpoint. And like Bob sais many of those cases self resolve with persons being re-arrested or going back to court, or being re-instated.

_________________
Eric Kindley
Court Services Inc
"What can the bear do for you?"

I personally prefer to work smaller case loads...too many and I make mistakes, miss clues, forget facts, or don't make notes after phone calls.
My avg case load is app. 25 right now, though I do prefer an avg of 10 or so.

I am currently working cases for 6 of the 7 bondsmen in my city; plus I have picked up a contract for a major company that has branch offices in other counties..so my case load is about to really explode on me. Like Bob, I am the only BEA working these cases. I've gone through several "wannabe's" already this year, so the end result is that I usually am stuck doing ALL of the investigative stuff by myself and most of my pick-ups by myself.

I don't like it this way, but until I find someone that is as dedicated and professional as I am, and who has an alternate source of income so they can be available 24/7, then this is the way it is for now.

_________________
River City Associates
Decatur, Al. 35601