How to Become a Bounty Hunter in 9 Easy Steps

Becoming a bounty hunter shouldn’t be all that hard right? I mean I've boiled it down to 9 easy steps…

1. Find a quality bounty hunter school or training.

2. Get licensed, if required.

3. If you are unsure if licensing is required, look it up.

4. Get the essential gear and support systems in place.

5. Market your services.

6. If successful, find and arrest the fugitive, then take him to jail.

7. If successful, invoice and collect for services from client.

8. Repeat steps 6 through 8 as often as necessary.

9. Find more bounty hunter training and improve your skills. Again, repeat as often as necessary.

Actually, I wish it were that easy but it is not- though not impossible as many would have you imagine.

Since I don’t know anything about you or your experience, I am going to assume that you are starting from scratch... no experience with the bail bond industry, skip tracing, taking people into custody, or finding a bounty hunter job.

With that in mind I am going to give you the best advice you will get in our industry:

Commit right now to becoming a lifelong student of the bail recovery tradecraft, which means finding a mentor, taking courses, reading books, research, and networking! This is not just for the short-term… but also for as long as you intend to find fugitives for business or for pleasure. I commit to at least 5 hours a week to learning more about some aspect of this business; improving my marketing skills, staying abreast of the changing climate of our industry, studying new methods of skip tracing, etc; each are extremely valuable topics to pursue.

Competency is developed from the study and practice of these skills. Competency leads to success!

But as I said in my last blog post about bounty hunting, finding the right school is of paramount importance. No other single decision made by someone wanting to learn to become a bounty hunter is so crucial!

And finding the right course can be tough! You have to consider a lot of options and weed through the rip-off courses (and there are more than a few) to find a truly great bail recovery course. Ask about the training director's validity and/or background... if they get offended or defensive, that would be a good sign to stay away. Pick their brain a little- does what they have to say give you cause for concern or does something feel not quite right? Walk away if something is wrong..

Ultimately a variety of courses and/or books from a few reputable companies would be in your best interest- this is a complicated business and the "pros" all tend to approach the industry a little bit differently and none of us are able to cover everything 100%; it would not hurt to expose yourself to as much as you feel comfortable.

Lastly, I want to leave you with this- having dealt with thousands upon thousands of people asking the most frequent questions about getting started in bail enforcement I find that the one singular cause of frustration and eventual failure is that new people are too busy trying to reinvent the wheel rather than enlisting the help of an investigator who has been in the field a while or availing themselves of their training programs.

Give yourself a fighting chance and start with Step #1 rather than halfway down the list. You'll be glad you did.

L. Scott Harrell is a private investigator and principal of CompassPoint Investigations, an investigative agency with offices in the Southeast United States. He is a noted speaker, writer and educator in the field of fugitive apprehension.

More information regarding bounty hunting and bail enforcement can be found on the internet: http://www.BeABountyHunter.com

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