Greetings All! Occasionally, we come across an article, posting, story, etc. that just seems to echo our thoughts. Here's a blog post from someone near and dear to our hearts that we just had to share. This was written by fellow Bondsman and Father in Law to our founder; Al Perna. Al's perspective on the Bail industry(and on life in general); is one of ignoring the cover to check out the book within.
"Ask anyone what a bail bond agent does and they are likely to say
that he “gets people out of jail”. Others may say that he sometimes gets
people out of jail and puts them back in jail like that guy on TV.
During the past month, it has become clear to me that Bail Bonds is a
customer service business. A good bail bond agent provides a service…to
several different customers. Let me explain.
At least 8 times in the past month, I have received a call from a
person who has learned that he had a warrant for his arrest and wanted
to take care of it. All 8 cases played out in the same manner, so I will
use one as an example to make my point.
A young man called me and told me that he learned that he had a
warrant for his arrest and wanted to find out how to take care of it. A
deputy sheriff had called him and told him that there was a warrant and
he needed to turn himself in at the jail. He wanted to find out if there
was a better way to handle the situation.
Most people believe that an arrest warrant is the first step in going
to jail. I tend to think of it as the first step in getting before the
court. The warrant commands law enforcement to seize the person and
bring him before the court. So, it’s more about going to court. Going to
jail is incidental. A big incidental.
In speaking with the young man, I obtained his personal information
and was able to confirm that there was an arrest warrant for a property
crime and that the court had set a bond of $2000. I told him the best
way that I know to handle the matter. I know of a particular facility
that is best and handling “walk-thru” bonds. We would meet there, he
would be “booked”, I would post the bond and he would be assigned a date
to return to court. Yes, he would be “going to jail” but he would not
have to stay there until court. The bond would allow him to be free of
custody until and appear in court as directed. This could all be
accomplished in about two hours.
We did accomplish this just as I did with the other seven people who
called me. Indeed, word had spread and I am receiving more calls from
people who heard about it from a friend or attorney and we are taking
care of their warrants.
It’s obvious that the person with the warrant is a customer and the
service that I provide is post the bond. However, there are several
other, less obvious, customers.
The first is law enforcement. People are contacting me and I am
arranging to bring them to law enforcement instead of law enforcement
going out and looking for them.
The second customer is the jail. I know when the jails are busiest
and when they are not. I schedule the “arrest” for times when the jail
is the slowest so that we are in and out faster. This benefits the jail
as it spreads out the work load.
The third customer is the court. The court has ordered that the
defendant be brought in to answer to the charges. I help arrange the
meeting.
The fourth customer is the victim of the crime. The victim deserves
to have his day in court. The only way that happens is if the defendant
shows up. I make that arrangement, as well.
Finally, law enforcement may be a customer again. If the defendant
fails to appear, the court will issue another arrest warrant as well as a
forfeiture notice. I must seize the person and bring him before the
court or I must personally pay the full amount of the bail. You can bet
that I’m going to do my best to find the person so that I don’t have to
pay.
So, Bail Bonds is clearly a customer service business. If only more people understood this."
Oftentimes; in the course of our work as Bail Bondsmen, we wear many hats and must be adept at switching roles quickly. For example: numerous times per day, we will immediately switch from speaking with a defendant and their loved ones; who may need us to assume more of a counseling role than anything else, to speaking with Judges, Court Clerks, Attorneys, Law Enforcement, Jail Personnel, etc.; who typically are "just about the facts", to back to the counselor role in assisting the defendant and their loved ones.
As Al's blog post demonstrates; while our generic role is Customer Service, who that customer is goes far beyond the cover and is what comprises the book.
Respectfully,
Bond Squad Bail Bonds
BondSquadBailBonds.com
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Friday, January 25, 2013
Colorado HB13-1129 & PreTrial Release Initiatives: New Lipstick on the same old Pig
We read a recent Blog post by Brian Nairin; honors graduate from Loyola Law School, President and CEO of AIA and nationally recognized expert in Bail Law, that hit the heart of the PreTrial Release/Deposit Bail argument so well, we just had to share. Here is Brian's Blog posting:
"Pretrial Release Agencies: Bail Bond Myths? Propaganda? Or Just Misguided Fantasy?
I just finished reading the latest piece of fictional research being
disseminated by the Pretrial Justice Institute (PJI), and I thought I
would share my thoughts on it. While I do enjoy a good crime novel
every once and a while, this specific story fell short in both storyline
and substance. And while I don’t typically like to ruin a good story
or give away the end, I am not really worried about that here because to
be honest, there is nothing new to this latest story that hasn’t been
said previously.
PJI once again has decided to put time, effort, and more likely than not, your tax-dollars into disseminating anti-bail propaganda to try and discredit the commercial bail bond industry. For those of you who don’t know who PJI is, they are the leading advocate for the elimination of all commercial bail in every instance of release pending trial. So it is no mystery why they continuously go after and try and undermine the commercial bail industry and its proven effectiveness. In this latest attempt, they have gone after several research studies. Their focus is on discrediting and pointing out “so-called” limitations in not one, not two, but SIX different research studies that all prove that financially secured release is more effective than other forms of release (specifically unsecured release). And please know that these research studies weren’t conducted in the back office of a bail bond agents retail operation, as it almost feels like the PJI community would like you to believe. But rather the studies that PJI is trying to discredit are coming from some of the nation’s leading research and criminal justice experts and Universities, including The University of Arizona, The US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, and The University of Chicago to name a few.
What is eerily missing from this story is a single study that shows that unsecured release is the most effective form of pretrial release. Why is that? Because one doesn’t exist. Why is that? Because anyone who looks at comparing these forms of release (like the six studies referenced in the study PJI is disseminating) all come to the same conclusion…that financially secured bail outperforms unsecured bail in appearance rates and recidivism rates every time. Remember, we aren’t talking about a single study; we are talking about 6 studies.
As one of its conclusions, PJI suggests that more research be conducted to determine the best way to manage pretrial populations. But to be honest, do we really need more research to show us that financially secured release is the most effective form of release only to have PJI than discredit the research because it didn’t help push their anti-commercial bail agenda. I don’t think so.
What I would like to see is PJI look in the mirror at themselves. They need to do a study on their performance and share those results with the entire criminal justice system (which by the way, they never seem to want to do). They need to answer a few questions… questions like, how effective are they at ensuring someone released through one of their pretrial service agencies is showing up for court? How effective are they at ensuring that someone released through one of their programs is not out committing additional crimes? And most importantly, how effective are they at going out and getting someone when they don’t show up for court? Oh wait, I forgot, they don’t go out and get them. That is not their job. Instead it falls on an overworked and undermanned law enforcement community to clean up Pretrial’s failures.
When and if PJI decides to look at these issues, it would help if they hold themselves to the same criteria that the commercial bail bond industry does when calculating appearance rates. For example, when a defendant has 10 scheduled court appearances and attends 9 of them, missing the last one, the bail industry considers that a Failure to Appear (FTA) rate of 100%. A pretrial service agency looks at that same scenario and calculates their FTA rate as only 10%, because the defendant only missed 1 of 10 appearances. Not quite the apples to apples comparsion they would like you to believe it is? And the worst part of this…for PJI, not for the bail industry…is that even when pretrial services calculates their FTAs in this way, the commercial bail industry still outperforms them. Maybe that is why they don’t want anyone to see or at least now believe the research.
While the pretrial community can continue to sling mud and arrows and the commercial bail bond industry and discredit the research studies of leading experts and institutions around the country, commercial bail will continue to do what we do. We will continue to live up to the promises we make to the families of those defendants we bail out. We will continue to keep the promises to the courts that we will return those defendants. We will continue to keep the promises to the communities in which live, work, protect and support. Why? Because it is what we do and what we have always done. Because bail does work. We know it works. Research shows it works. 97% of Sheriffs say it works. 90% of Judges say it works. And at the end of the day, isn’t that all that should matter. I look forward to hearing your comments."
PJI once again has decided to put time, effort, and more likely than not, your tax-dollars into disseminating anti-bail propaganda to try and discredit the commercial bail bond industry. For those of you who don’t know who PJI is, they are the leading advocate for the elimination of all commercial bail in every instance of release pending trial. So it is no mystery why they continuously go after and try and undermine the commercial bail industry and its proven effectiveness. In this latest attempt, they have gone after several research studies. Their focus is on discrediting and pointing out “so-called” limitations in not one, not two, but SIX different research studies that all prove that financially secured release is more effective than other forms of release (specifically unsecured release). And please know that these research studies weren’t conducted in the back office of a bail bond agents retail operation, as it almost feels like the PJI community would like you to believe. But rather the studies that PJI is trying to discredit are coming from some of the nation’s leading research and criminal justice experts and Universities, including The University of Arizona, The US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, and The University of Chicago to name a few.
What is eerily missing from this story is a single study that shows that unsecured release is the most effective form of pretrial release. Why is that? Because one doesn’t exist. Why is that? Because anyone who looks at comparing these forms of release (like the six studies referenced in the study PJI is disseminating) all come to the same conclusion…that financially secured bail outperforms unsecured bail in appearance rates and recidivism rates every time. Remember, we aren’t talking about a single study; we are talking about 6 studies.
As one of its conclusions, PJI suggests that more research be conducted to determine the best way to manage pretrial populations. But to be honest, do we really need more research to show us that financially secured release is the most effective form of release only to have PJI than discredit the research because it didn’t help push their anti-commercial bail agenda. I don’t think so.
What I would like to see is PJI look in the mirror at themselves. They need to do a study on their performance and share those results with the entire criminal justice system (which by the way, they never seem to want to do). They need to answer a few questions… questions like, how effective are they at ensuring someone released through one of their pretrial service agencies is showing up for court? How effective are they at ensuring that someone released through one of their programs is not out committing additional crimes? And most importantly, how effective are they at going out and getting someone when they don’t show up for court? Oh wait, I forgot, they don’t go out and get them. That is not their job. Instead it falls on an overworked and undermanned law enforcement community to clean up Pretrial’s failures.
When and if PJI decides to look at these issues, it would help if they hold themselves to the same criteria that the commercial bail bond industry does when calculating appearance rates. For example, when a defendant has 10 scheduled court appearances and attends 9 of them, missing the last one, the bail industry considers that a Failure to Appear (FTA) rate of 100%. A pretrial service agency looks at that same scenario and calculates their FTA rate as only 10%, because the defendant only missed 1 of 10 appearances. Not quite the apples to apples comparsion they would like you to believe it is? And the worst part of this…for PJI, not for the bail industry…is that even when pretrial services calculates their FTAs in this way, the commercial bail industry still outperforms them. Maybe that is why they don’t want anyone to see or at least now believe the research.
While the pretrial community can continue to sling mud and arrows and the commercial bail bond industry and discredit the research studies of leading experts and institutions around the country, commercial bail will continue to do what we do. We will continue to live up to the promises we make to the families of those defendants we bail out. We will continue to keep the promises to the courts that we will return those defendants. We will continue to keep the promises to the communities in which live, work, protect and support. Why? Because it is what we do and what we have always done. Because bail does work. We know it works. Research shows it works. 97% of Sheriffs say it works. 90% of Judges say it works. And at the end of the day, isn’t that all that should matter. I look forward to hearing your comments."
As Brian plainly states; it is hard to argue with facts. Now, the powers that are pushing these initiatives have realized this. So, since none of the six independent research studies supported their cause, they decided to design a study that would. Proving the adage that "great marketing lends credibility"; they even adopted a new catch-phrase: "Evidence-Based Practices"....It just oozes "Credibility".
Where was this designed study performed? Colorado's own Jefferson County. How does it tie into HB13-1129?
Introduced on 1/18/13, HB13-1129 reads as follows: "Concerning creating the
Evidence-Based Practices Implementation for Capacity Resource Center." Some
title, huh?
The bill summary reads as follows: "The bill creates the evidence-based
practices implementation for capacity resource center in the division of
criminal justice in the department of public safety. The resource center will
assist agencies serving juvenile and adult populations to develop, implement,
and sustain effective science-based frameworks to support the use of
evidence-based practices. An advisory board will oversee the resource
center."
The advisory board will consist of the directors of the department of
public safety, corrections, human services, criminal justice and probation. "The
division of criminal justice is authorized to accept gifts, grants and donations
for the program." The members of the board will not be compensated.
The language of the bill seems to be constructed to obscure the true
meaning of the bill.
Evidence-based practices is a term that the Pretrial Justice Institute
likes to throw around in selling Pretrial Release.
The Jefferson County Bail Project was a study of pretrial services in
Jeffco and was written by Michael R. Jones. Jones was the Criminal Justice
Planning Manager for Jefferson County at the time. That report lead to a report
published by the Pretrial Justice Institute "The Colorado Pretrial Assessment
Tool". The report was authored by Michael R. Jones as well. Mr. Jones no longer
works for Jefferson County. He is a senior project associate for the Pretrial Justice
Institute and runs the Colorado Office. His job is to assist jurisdictions in
"implementing more legal and empirically-based pretrial policies". Staff -
Pretrial Justice Institute
Somehow Michael R. Jones and his report seem.....hmmmm, what's the term I'm searching for...oh yeah.....BIASED!! Funny thing about Bias; it tends to undermine good ol' Credibility. But hey, slap that new "Evidence-Based Practices" Lipstick on this Old Pig, hope the Colorado Legislators are not into doing research of their own and get this Pig to Market. The crazy thing is; these con men will probably succeed in selling it.
Respectfully,
Bond Squad Bail Bonds
720-733-8844
Monday, October 22, 2012
Bond Squad Bail Bonds Receives 2012 Best of Castle Rock Award
Recently, Bond Squad Bail Bonds was granted the esteemed "2012 Best of Castle Rock Award". This was quite an unexpected honor; yet one we're very proud of. In addition to receiving the Award, the following Press Release was published by the Castle Rock Awards Program:
Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
"Bond Squad Bail Bonds Receives 2012 Best of Castle Rock Award
Castle Rock Award Program Honors the Achievement
CASTLE ROCK October 15, 2012 -- Bond Squad Bail Bonds has been selected for the 2012 Best of Castle Rock Award in the Bail Bond Services category by the Castle Rock Award Program.
Each year, the Castle Rock Award Program identifies companies that we believe have achieved exceptional marketing success in their local community and business category. These are local companies that enhance the positive image of small business through service to their customers and our community. These exceptional companies help make the Castle Rock area a great place to live, work and play.
Various sources of information were gathered and analyzed to choose the winners in each category. The 2012 Castle Rock Award Program focuses on quality, not quantity. Winners are determined based on the information gathered both internally by the Castle Rock Award Program and data provided by third parties.
About Castle Rock Award Program
The Castle Rock Award Program is an annual awards program honoring the achievements and accomplishments of local businesses throughout the Castle Rock area. Recognition is given to those companies that have shown the ability to use their best practices and implemented programs to generate competitive advantages and long-term value.
The Castle Rock Award Program was established to recognize the best of local businesses in our community. Our organization works exclusively with local business owners, trade groups, professional associations and other business advertising and marketing groups. Our mission is to recognize the small business community’s contributions to the U.S. economy."
SOURCE: Castle Rock Award Program
As an organization that prides itself on building and continuing a stellar reputation of Customer Service and Community Support, it is very uplifting to see our efforts rewarded.
Respectfully,
Bond Squad Bail Bonds
720-733-8844
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Douglas County D.A. wastes 3 years prosecuting innocent disabled man
Here's a Case that appears to highlight the current viewpoint of many of our prosecutors. Tyler Sanchez; a mentally disabled young man, was charged and prosecuted for sexual assault on an 8 year old girl. While the nature of this crime is reprehensible and especially heinous; the obviously wrongful prosecution of Tyler Sanchez by Douglas County Chief Deputy District Attorney John Topolnicki was no less criminal. Three years after DNA evidence excluded Tyler as a perpetrator of the crime; in addition to zero physical or factual evidence linking him to the crime, the D.A.'s office was forced to stop their charade when it became apparent the Judge was going to dismiss the case. In a vain attempt to save face and show compassion, the Douglas County District Attorney's office finally relented and dropped the charges against Mr. Sanchez before the Judge could throw out the case.
After spending untold tens of thousands of Taxpayer Dollars and years of wasted Court time, Douglas County Chief Deputy District Attorney John Topolnicki has allowed the true perpetrator of this heinous crime to remain at large. Once the Prosecutors had their sights on Mr. Sanchez, why continue investigating when finding the real perpetrator would only prove they were wrong. Never mind the true pursuit of Justice and the Oath to uphold it the Prosecutors swore.
Here are some Links to this story:
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/30843914/detail.html
http://kdvr.com/2012/04/04/disabled-young-man-cleared-3-years-after-sexual-assault-arrest/
http://www.9news.com/rss/story.aspx?storyid=261071
Defense Attorney Iris Eytan remained steadfast in her conviction to defend Tyler and was right to be critical of the Prosecutors' handling of the case.
Here's an excerpt from the Denver Channel 7 story on this case: ""As for the lack of DNA evidence, Topolnicki said, "the analysis eliminated the defendant as a contributor to the (DNA) mixture, but did not exonerate him as the perpetrator of the crime. There are a variety of innocent explanations that would explain family members or unknown others as contributors" to the mixture of DNA found on the child's underwear. The defense attorney scoffed at the prosecutor's assertion. "It's the first case in history where DNA doesn't count," Eytan said. "So DNA only counts when it convicts somebody, but it doesn't count when it exonerates somebody. "Meanwhile, Topolnicki blamed defense attorneys for dragging out the case, saying they objected to some prosecution requests for evaluations of Sanchez. "If these evaluations had been done sooner, the case would have been resolved sooner," the prosecutor said. Eytan fired back, saying, "It's offensive that the prosecution that was prosecuting an innocent person for three years would blame the defense for making this last this long." She said Sanchez's family has had to spend money on attorneys and private investigators along with paying $380 a month for a mandated GPS tracking-device that Sanchez had to wear on his ankle for 2½ years. Ultimately, Eytan said, law enforcement officials have so far failed to find the man who really attacked the young girl. "How about letting the real guy who committed this offense go off because they were so focused on Tyler?" she said.""
Unfortunately; it appears the mindset of the D.A.'s office in this case was "Any Defendant will do" and "A Defendant in the hand is worth two in the bush".
Respectfully,
Bond Squad Bail Bonds
http://www.bondsquadbailbonds.com
After spending untold tens of thousands of Taxpayer Dollars and years of wasted Court time, Douglas County Chief Deputy District Attorney John Topolnicki has allowed the true perpetrator of this heinous crime to remain at large. Once the Prosecutors had their sights on Mr. Sanchez, why continue investigating when finding the real perpetrator would only prove they were wrong. Never mind the true pursuit of Justice and the Oath to uphold it the Prosecutors swore.
Here are some Links to this story:
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/30843914/detail.html
http://kdvr.com/2012/04/04/disabled-young-man-cleared-3-years-after-sexual-assault-arrest/
http://www.9news.com/rss/story.aspx?storyid=261071
Defense Attorney Iris Eytan remained steadfast in her conviction to defend Tyler and was right to be critical of the Prosecutors' handling of the case.
Here's an excerpt from the Denver Channel 7 story on this case: ""As for the lack of DNA evidence, Topolnicki said, "the analysis eliminated the defendant as a contributor to the (DNA) mixture, but did not exonerate him as the perpetrator of the crime. There are a variety of innocent explanations that would explain family members or unknown others as contributors" to the mixture of DNA found on the child's underwear. The defense attorney scoffed at the prosecutor's assertion. "It's the first case in history where DNA doesn't count," Eytan said. "So DNA only counts when it convicts somebody, but it doesn't count when it exonerates somebody. "Meanwhile, Topolnicki blamed defense attorneys for dragging out the case, saying they objected to some prosecution requests for evaluations of Sanchez. "If these evaluations had been done sooner, the case would have been resolved sooner," the prosecutor said. Eytan fired back, saying, "It's offensive that the prosecution that was prosecuting an innocent person for three years would blame the defense for making this last this long." She said Sanchez's family has had to spend money on attorneys and private investigators along with paying $380 a month for a mandated GPS tracking-device that Sanchez had to wear on his ankle for 2½ years. Ultimately, Eytan said, law enforcement officials have so far failed to find the man who really attacked the young girl. "How about letting the real guy who committed this offense go off because they were so focused on Tyler?" she said.""
Unfortunately; it appears the mindset of the D.A.'s office in this case was "Any Defendant will do" and "A Defendant in the hand is worth two in the bush".
Respectfully,
Bond Squad Bail Bonds
http://www.bondsquadbailbonds.com
Friday, December 16, 2011
I.D. Thief helps catch herself.
Several weeks ago, we had an amusing experience while posting a Walk-Thru Bail Bond with a client at the Adams County Court House. If a Defendant has an active warrant for their arrest out of Adams County, oftentimes they qualify to be able to do a Walk-Thru Bail Bond. Simply put, a Walk-Thru Bail Bond is much like its name suggests; the Defendant is able to effectively "Walk-Thru" the Bonding procedure at the Court House, get their warrant cancelled and not be subjected to arrest.
The client and I were in line to post her Walk-Thru Bail Bond and there was a female Bail Bond Agent and her client; a female approximately 23 years old, in front of us; also there to post a Walk-Thru Bail Bond on a traffic case. When they approached the Clerk's window, the Clerk asked the Defendant for her name and date of birth and her identification. The girl told the Clerk her information and then reached into her purse and gave the Clerk her I.D. The Clerk typed in the girl's information, took her I.D. and looked up her information on the computer screen. The Clerk then told the Bail Bond Agent and the Defendant that she had to go check the printer and left.
My client and I were talking for several minutes when I noticed that it was taking the Clerk longer than usual to return from "checking the printer". As we stood there talking, I watched down the hallway and sure enough, I saw two Adams County Sheriff Deputies come walking towards us. I motioned to my client for us to move back a couple of steps and watched as the Deputies walked up behind the female Defendant and the Bail Bond Agent in front of us.
At this point, the Clerk returned and the Deputies asked the Defendant her name and date of birth. While she was answering, the Clerk handed the Deputies the Defendant's I.D. The look of surprise on the young girl's face was priceless when the Deputy showed her the I.D. she had presented and pointed out that it was not hers. As she was trying to stammer out an explanation, the Deputy searched her purse and pulled out 4 other I.D.'s; all obviously stolen. While the Deputies were handcuffing the young female, she started pleading with her Bail Bond Agent to Post her new Bail Bonds on the I.D. Theft charges. All the Bail Bond Agent could do was just shrug her shoulders and look at the Defendant incredulously. So, what started out as a simple Walk-Thru Bail Bond on a traffic case turned into several Felony charges for that young I.D. Thief.
After the Deputies had led her away, my client and I approached the Clerk's window. I just smiled at her and said "Now THERE'S a tough act to follow." We all just shook our heads over what had just transpired.
Bond Squad Bail Bonds
720-733-8844
http://www.bondsquadbailbonds.com
The client and I were in line to post her Walk-Thru Bail Bond and there was a female Bail Bond Agent and her client; a female approximately 23 years old, in front of us; also there to post a Walk-Thru Bail Bond on a traffic case. When they approached the Clerk's window, the Clerk asked the Defendant for her name and date of birth and her identification. The girl told the Clerk her information and then reached into her purse and gave the Clerk her I.D. The Clerk typed in the girl's information, took her I.D. and looked up her information on the computer screen. The Clerk then told the Bail Bond Agent and the Defendant that she had to go check the printer and left.
My client and I were talking for several minutes when I noticed that it was taking the Clerk longer than usual to return from "checking the printer". As we stood there talking, I watched down the hallway and sure enough, I saw two Adams County Sheriff Deputies come walking towards us. I motioned to my client for us to move back a couple of steps and watched as the Deputies walked up behind the female Defendant and the Bail Bond Agent in front of us.
At this point, the Clerk returned and the Deputies asked the Defendant her name and date of birth. While she was answering, the Clerk handed the Deputies the Defendant's I.D. The look of surprise on the young girl's face was priceless when the Deputy showed her the I.D. she had presented and pointed out that it was not hers. As she was trying to stammer out an explanation, the Deputy searched her purse and pulled out 4 other I.D.'s; all obviously stolen. While the Deputies were handcuffing the young female, she started pleading with her Bail Bond Agent to Post her new Bail Bonds on the I.D. Theft charges. All the Bail Bond Agent could do was just shrug her shoulders and look at the Defendant incredulously. So, what started out as a simple Walk-Thru Bail Bond on a traffic case turned into several Felony charges for that young I.D. Thief.
After the Deputies had led her away, my client and I approached the Clerk's window. I just smiled at her and said "Now THERE'S a tough act to follow." We all just shook our heads over what had just transpired.
Bond Squad Bail Bonds
720-733-8844
http://www.bondsquadbailbonds.com
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Bail Bonds and PreTrial Release Violations
Recently we received a call for a bail bond on an individual who had been taken into custody for violating the terms of his PreTrial Release. This type of bail bond is not uncommon; it seems to have become pretty easy to commit a pretrial release violation in most of the Denver Metro counties. This particular individual was placed under arrest in Arapahoe County and was housed at the detention center in Centennial.
What made this call interesting was the information provided by this individual's family. It seems this person had been on pretrial release supervision for several months; and in that time had violated the terms of his release numerous times. In fact, when he was taken into custody, his pretrial case worker stated that there was not a solid week where this defendant had been in compliance in the entire time he was on pretrial release supervision.
At his first court appearance since being taken into custody, this defendant's bail bond was set at $15,000.00 and he had a follow-up hearing scheduled for the next day. At his follow-up hearing the following day, the defendant told the court that he simply could not comply with the terms set forth by pretrial release and that he couldn't afford to post the $15k bail bond. So what did the court do? The court reduced the defendant's bail bond amount to $5000.00 and released him from having pretrial release supervision.
So, here you have a Defendant; which the court initially assessed required pretrial supervision(to protect whom?), with numerous violations and who admits to not being able to comply, suddenly ordered released from pretrial supervision and given a reduced bond amount. WTF, Over?
Now the kicker: What were his pretrial release violations, you might ask? Failure to Pay his PreTrial Release Supervision costs.
This Defendant; by order of the court, was deemed such a "threat" that he needed to be under strict pretrial release supervision. Yet; months later, when he stated that he couldn't afford the fees, the court basically said: Oh, Ok, well if there's no financial benefit to us then you don't need to be under supervision.
What changed in this individual's life that suddenly made him less of a "threat" in the eyes of the court? His employment status. He'd lost his job. According to his family; he'd lost his job due to having to leave work several times a week to do random UA's and BA's for pretrial release. So now, that the damage was done and this defendant was no longer able to contribute to the county coffers, his threat status diminished significantly. Shocker.
Pretrial Release/PreTrial Sentencing - who's the REAL threat here?
Bond Squad Bail Bonds
http://www.bondsquadbailbonds.com
720-733-8844
What made this call interesting was the information provided by this individual's family. It seems this person had been on pretrial release supervision for several months; and in that time had violated the terms of his release numerous times. In fact, when he was taken into custody, his pretrial case worker stated that there was not a solid week where this defendant had been in compliance in the entire time he was on pretrial release supervision.
At his first court appearance since being taken into custody, this defendant's bail bond was set at $15,000.00 and he had a follow-up hearing scheduled for the next day. At his follow-up hearing the following day, the defendant told the court that he simply could not comply with the terms set forth by pretrial release and that he couldn't afford to post the $15k bail bond. So what did the court do? The court reduced the defendant's bail bond amount to $5000.00 and released him from having pretrial release supervision.
So, here you have a Defendant; which the court initially assessed required pretrial supervision(to protect whom?), with numerous violations and who admits to not being able to comply, suddenly ordered released from pretrial supervision and given a reduced bond amount. WTF, Over?
Now the kicker: What were his pretrial release violations, you might ask? Failure to Pay his PreTrial Release Supervision costs.
This Defendant; by order of the court, was deemed such a "threat" that he needed to be under strict pretrial release supervision. Yet; months later, when he stated that he couldn't afford the fees, the court basically said: Oh, Ok, well if there's no financial benefit to us then you don't need to be under supervision.
What changed in this individual's life that suddenly made him less of a "threat" in the eyes of the court? His employment status. He'd lost his job. According to his family; he'd lost his job due to having to leave work several times a week to do random UA's and BA's for pretrial release. So now, that the damage was done and this defendant was no longer able to contribute to the county coffers, his threat status diminished significantly. Shocker.
Pretrial Release/PreTrial Sentencing - who's the REAL threat here?
Bond Squad Bail Bonds
http://www.bondsquadbailbonds.com
720-733-8844
Friday, April 8, 2011
All in the name of Justice
This past weekend I received a rather unusual call; and trust me, for a Bondsman to say a call is unusual....well, let's just say we hear a lot of things throughout the average day. This was a call from a young man who needed to bond one of his family members out of jail. What's unusual about that? Well, the family member turned out to be his Grandmother. Normally, it's the other way around.
The young man was pretty distraught; understandably, after witnessing his 77 year old Grandmother handcuffed and taken to jail. Apparently, she had been issued a traffic citation back in 1997 and either had or thought she had sent in the payment. Either way, the payment wasn't received or wasn't properly recorded with the Courts and an arrest warrant was issued.....in 1997.
Fast forward 14 years: the aforementioned young man is driving his Grandmother on her weekly errands. He fails to come to a complete stop while turning right at an intersection and is pulled over by an officer. The officer; as he should, runs a warrant check on all occupants in the vehicle. Lo and behold, the warrant from 1997 pops up for Grandma! Grandma is asked to step out of the vehicle, puts her hands on the hood, is handcuffed and given a ride to the jail; where she is photographed, fingerprinted, changed into an inmate jumpsuit, placed in a holding cell, etc.
The young man is not only bewildered, but very upset. He follows the patrol car to the jail and waits for news of his Grandmother. When he asks the jail staff why his Grandmother was arrested, the response is "Because she is a Fugitive of Justice." and then something along the lines of: "She can run, but she can't hide." The young man tries to explain that there must be some mistake, but to no avail. When he asks whether or not his Grandmother could have just been issued a summons to appear, the lackluster response is "Probably, but there's less money in that."
Our Justice System was never intended to become a profit center for our government, yet that is exactly what it has become. I got the picture the first time I saw an armored car pull up to the Court House and watched the armed guards make several trips in and out carrying bags bulging with money. Anyone who thinks that our Justice System hasn't morphed into a money machine need only sit in on a few Court Hearings.
One of the biggest profit centers for the Justice System is PreTrial Release. A more accurate title for this division of the Justice System is PreTrial Sentencing. This is a Division that has complete and total control of "monitoring" (i.e. collecting revenue from) Defendants prior to their being found Not Guilty, Guilty or Case Dismissed.
Ever hear of Presumed Innocent Until Proven Guilty? Not now. Now you are required by PreTrial Release to submit to random breath analysis, urine analysis, check-ins, ankle monitors, GPS tracking, etc.; all at your expense and in all cases; meaning Non-Violent Crimes like Traffic Offenses. In most cases, the dollar amounts paid to PreTrial Release is far more than the amounts sentenced by the Judge if you're found guilty. Oh, and if you're Not Guilty or your Case is Dismissed, those dollars spent on PreTrial Release are Non-Refundable. Oftentimes, the money Defendants are required to pay to the PreTrial Release Profit Center negatively impact their ability to afford private legal council. This obviously impedes their opportunity to prove their innocence.
Who is PreTrial Release's favorite customer? Employed men and women(i.e. those who can pay the tab), preferably homeowners(i.e. those with assets) and those accused of Low Risk Crimes(i.e. traffic offenses and misdemeanor crimes). The ones who are not likely to be a hassle, the ones who have a lot to lose; the ones who PreTrial Release can lean on and impose more hoops to jump through, thus upping their "monitoring" fees. Basically the bread and butter, middle class segment of society; in short: TAXPAYERS.
Wake Up, America!
Respectfully,
Bond Squad Bail Bonds
http://www.bondsquadbailbonds.com/
720-733-8844
The young man was pretty distraught; understandably, after witnessing his 77 year old Grandmother handcuffed and taken to jail. Apparently, she had been issued a traffic citation back in 1997 and either had or thought she had sent in the payment. Either way, the payment wasn't received or wasn't properly recorded with the Courts and an arrest warrant was issued.....in 1997.
Fast forward 14 years: the aforementioned young man is driving his Grandmother on her weekly errands. He fails to come to a complete stop while turning right at an intersection and is pulled over by an officer. The officer; as he should, runs a warrant check on all occupants in the vehicle. Lo and behold, the warrant from 1997 pops up for Grandma! Grandma is asked to step out of the vehicle, puts her hands on the hood, is handcuffed and given a ride to the jail; where she is photographed, fingerprinted, changed into an inmate jumpsuit, placed in a holding cell, etc.
The young man is not only bewildered, but very upset. He follows the patrol car to the jail and waits for news of his Grandmother. When he asks the jail staff why his Grandmother was arrested, the response is "Because she is a Fugitive of Justice." and then something along the lines of: "She can run, but she can't hide." The young man tries to explain that there must be some mistake, but to no avail. When he asks whether or not his Grandmother could have just been issued a summons to appear, the lackluster response is "Probably, but there's less money in that."
Our Justice System was never intended to become a profit center for our government, yet that is exactly what it has become. I got the picture the first time I saw an armored car pull up to the Court House and watched the armed guards make several trips in and out carrying bags bulging with money. Anyone who thinks that our Justice System hasn't morphed into a money machine need only sit in on a few Court Hearings.
One of the biggest profit centers for the Justice System is PreTrial Release. A more accurate title for this division of the Justice System is PreTrial Sentencing. This is a Division that has complete and total control of "monitoring" (i.e. collecting revenue from) Defendants prior to their being found Not Guilty, Guilty or Case Dismissed.
Ever hear of Presumed Innocent Until Proven Guilty? Not now. Now you are required by PreTrial Release to submit to random breath analysis, urine analysis, check-ins, ankle monitors, GPS tracking, etc.; all at your expense and in all cases; meaning Non-Violent Crimes like Traffic Offenses. In most cases, the dollar amounts paid to PreTrial Release is far more than the amounts sentenced by the Judge if you're found guilty. Oh, and if you're Not Guilty or your Case is Dismissed, those dollars spent on PreTrial Release are Non-Refundable. Oftentimes, the money Defendants are required to pay to the PreTrial Release Profit Center negatively impact their ability to afford private legal council. This obviously impedes their opportunity to prove their innocence.
Who is PreTrial Release's favorite customer? Employed men and women(i.e. those who can pay the tab), preferably homeowners(i.e. those with assets) and those accused of Low Risk Crimes(i.e. traffic offenses and misdemeanor crimes). The ones who are not likely to be a hassle, the ones who have a lot to lose; the ones who PreTrial Release can lean on and impose more hoops to jump through, thus upping their "monitoring" fees. Basically the bread and butter, middle class segment of society; in short: TAXPAYERS.
Wake Up, America!
Respectfully,
Bond Squad Bail Bonds
http://www.bondsquadbailbonds.com/
720-733-8844
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