How do Bondsmen benefit society?
As the debate over public versus private bail bond enforcement wages on, it is important to examine the evidence presented to determine the impact that bond enforcement has on society. In an article by Eric Helland and Alexander Tabarrok entitled, “Public versus Private Law Enforcement: Evidence from Bail Jumping,” the authors explore the efficiency of bail bondsmen over public bond enforcement or release on their own recognizance. Helland and Tabarrok compile failure to appear rates (FTAs), and they then compare the rates of surety bonds, which are those bonds that employ the use of a bail bondsmen, to public bonds, or those released on their own recognizance. Helland and Tabarrok affirm that bail bondsmen provide over a 50% decrease in FTAs as compared to release on their own recognizance. This evidence declares the efficacy of bail bondsmen over release on their own recognizance.
Obviously, the benefits of bail bondsmen are clear. They more effectively ensure that offenders are brought to justice in court on their assigned dates. Moreover, because bail bondsmen utilize the expertise of bounty hunters to track down defendants and perpetrators, they can guarantee the appearance or re-arrest of offenders. By guaranteeing that offenders appear in court, bail bondsmen and bounty hunters have the responsibility of protecting society from offenders who attempt to jump bail. Because of their financial obligation to an offender’s case, these bail bondsmen will use any means necessary to bring these criminals and offenders to justice, thus safeguarding the interest of citizens and society.
Not only do bail bondsmen and bounty hunters protect the interests of society, but they also provide services that save money for the citizens and taxpayers. When an offender fails to appear after being released upon their own recognizance, it is the responsibility of the police bureau to re-arrest this offender. However, often police resources are not readily available, and these offenders go without re-arrest for months or even years. These FTAs financially cripple the police bureaus and taxpayers. However, funds can be rescued from the depletion caused by release on their own recognizance by utilizing the more efficient methods of private bail bondsmen.
Private bail bondsmen and bounty hunters serve justice to offenders, not only protecting the safety of citizens, but also guarding their wallets. The efficacy of bail bondsmen is affirmed in the statistics provided by Helland and Tabarrok, and the impact of a 50% decreased FTA rate can most surely be tabulated. The calculations would certainly show how successfully bail bondsmen can provide reduced costs to police bureaus and taxpayers. Bail bondsmen and the bounty hunters they employ provide a twofold service to society both by safeguarding the lives of citizens and decreasing the financial burden of FTAs on taxpayers and police bureaus.
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