Bounty Hunters Cleaning Up Their Image

Jan. 30 -- Bounty Hunter Billy Wells admits his profession has an image problem.

"There's a picture that pops up your mind when you say 'bounty hunter,'" he said. "You think of a thug."

It's an image that is not helped by regular — if infrequent — horror stories of bounty hunters' apparent abuses and mistakes, such as the killing of a Virginia man last month. Police say a bounty hunter with criminal record raided the wrong home and fatally shot an innocent man.

And it's more than just an image problem for those who make their living as skip tracers. Pressure from lawmakers is slowly reining in the storied profession, eroding unparalleled freedoms born in the days of the Wild West.

Reality vs. ‘The Wild Bunch’

Bounty hunters are hired by bail bond agents to track down and arrest clients who have failed to appear in court as required. They haul in an estimated 30,000 bail jumpers every year, earning a typical fee of about 10 percent of the bail amount.

The thousands of agents working in business range from private investigators and former police officers, to people like Crystal McElroy, a 26-year-old mother of three who works as a bounty hunter in Santa Fe, N.M.

The profession has long been a fixture of the American imagination, appearing in movies such as The Wild Bunch, Midnight Run, and even Star Wars. But the reality is usually not very glamorous, those in the industry say.

Bounty hunters spend days tracking down and staking out their prey. Professionals admit chases and high drama are rare, and many seasoned agents say they often just call the police when they've tracked down a particularly dangerous fugitive.

Only a few hundred agents around the country are able to support themselves as full-time bounty hunters, experts say.

"It's a tough business," said Wells. "I recommend to people — and I always have — don't quit your day job."

The ‘Rambo Approach’

Most bounty hunters are responsible professionals, but traditionally, virtually anyone could enter the field, and under a Supreme Court decision in 1872, they have enjoyed police-like powers.