The World of Bail Enforcement

• March 23, 2009
• by Collateral Staff

William "Moose" Moseley has seen more of the world than many people can dream of. He has seen more countries than states - partially due to his work in the military - and he uses his background to make sound choices while working in bail enforcement. He has to make hard choices about taking cases in states where the rules and regulations are not kind to bail enforcement agents, and has learned hard lessons about who to do business with.
Moseley has had what he terms a "very dirty trick" played on him. On occasion, he has gone looking for a fugitive, and unknowingly the bondsman has a team looking for the person. Whoever finds the fugitive first gets the reward.
"As a result, if they pull that trick, I do not accept a call from them again," said Moseley.
What he does appreciate when working with bail bond agents is if they have two things to help him be successful. It helps him to have a copy of the bail bond, and also the information page that the person out on bond has supplied to the bail bond agent.
While Moseley began in bail enforcement work 10 years ago, he is no longer bounty hunting, but will do pickups and transfers of fugitives. These are more closely tied to his investigation business Chameleon Investigations, which he has owned for 10 years. Bail Enforcement Agents are only paid if theyfind the perpetrator. At that point, they are typically paid 10 percent of the bond plus expenses. Bail enforcement now makes up approximately 10 percent of the business Moseley takes on.
On a recent case, Moseley was contacted by a bail bondsman from Gulfport, Mississippi to catch a sexual predator. He called the watch commander at the police department to inform him of what he was planning to do to capture the man, and the commander provided Moseley with a uniformed and plain clothes police officer. He found the fugitive, through a confidential informant, at a local McDonalds.
Moseley takes precautions to protect himself on every case, and this one was no different. Arizona law allows him to carry, and use if necessary, one non-lethal weapon. His is a Maglite flashlight. Also, tucked away in his clothes he keeps a 9mm, and a spare magazine.
"One in 10 want to fight, and the other nine do not," he says. "You have to be prepared to take on the individual."
The apprehension of the sexual predator at the McDonalds went smoothly, despite it being with the general public, and the police officer's only action was to tighten the handcuffs. Within 28 hours the man was returned to Mississippi.
Moseley highlights the importance of working alongside the local law enforcement.
"You'll lose if the police are your enemy," says Moseley. "Civilians (bail enforcement agents) are running around and the police and sheriffs department are not completely sure what they are supposed to be able to do. It's good because they won't challenge you, but you can cause yourself some difficulty. They are not schooled in what you do so you need to keep them away from surprises."
In a country where the licensing, laws, and regulations are vastly different depending on the state, Moseley hopes that someday bail enforcement agents will have legislation passed on their behalf to provide them with better cooperation with law enforcement.
"There's more information that they can't give us because of the laws," he said. "We need better briefing to do our jobs better."