Monday, February 12, 2007

Bounty hunting a shaking and stirring business

The Breeze - Top Stories: "Doug Dunkle works a lot.

“I’ve got one of the worst jobs in the U.S., as far as I go,” Dunkle said.

Dunkle is the owner of 1-800-FOR-BAIL — a bonds business on Liberty Street, which operates 24 hours a day, and it’s not unusual for Dunkle to drive 200 miles a day on a case, looking for someone who might be delinquent on a bail payment. Currently, he’s been working on a case for three weeks, driving about 1,500 miles from Rockingham County, to Fairfax, to Winchester and out of state.

Dunkle said most people don’t realize bondsmen are licensed insurance agents first and foremost — they assess risk. However, bonds agents don’t assess the risk of the criminal, they instead determine the risk of the co-signer of the bond.

Different people present varying degrees of risk, and Dunkle said someone who has no ties to the community poses a higher risk of skipping town and dodging court than someone who does."

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