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By Root 1053 0

It was a small victory knowing I had won the major over. Perhaps he wasn’t expecting me to be cooperative when he called me into his office that day, or maybe he actually believed he would bust me for something after he swabbed me. Whatever his motivation was, he seemed to have a change of heart that day in the parking lot. It always makes me feel good when cops embrace the service we provide, but this time it was especially satisfying because this guy had been on my back for so long trying to trip me up. Thankfully, that day he was only yanking my chain. I looked over and said, “Thank you, sir. See you again, not too soon!” I smiled, got into my car, and drove away.

CHAPTER 15

Roy Marasigan

Jail is a wake-up call for most people. But once they’re awake, what do you do with them? Having been in the streets for the better part of my life, I understand the inner workings of the criminal mind. I often think that the justice system should consult with reformed criminals to help make better laws to protect the citizens the system is supposed to save from harm.

The federal justice system is broken. It hemorrhages money, when in fact it could be generating billions of dollars in revenue. Right now, the only people making money off of crime are the criminals and the lawyers who represent them. The justice system that fights against the criminal loses money.

When a criminal runs, I know I am going to make some money, but I have to work damn hard and will earn it. As a bondsman, my money is in jeopardy if a client decides to run and I’m not able catch him and bring him in. I’ve always claimed that my motivation to make sure every single person I bond shows up in court is to prevent the loss of my own money, something I don’t like very much. I have to capture that person if they run, and do it within thirty days or I won’t be able to put food on the table for my kids. That drives me to make sure I’m on top of the people I bond out.

And though it’s tue that I don’t like to lose money, between you and me, the real reason I’m in the game is for the chase. When someone runs, it’s the best part of my job to know that I will chase them to the gates of hell if I have to.

Police don’t have the same motivation as a bondsman. They don’t have the deadlines or financial risk we have. They have every resource imaginable available to them, yet criminals run free. Our police agencies are terribly underpaid for the service they provide. Their departments are understaffed and slammed with more cases than they can handle. Because of that, the private sector has to be brought in to subsidize the workload.

If you have a skunk in your house or a stray dog gets loose, you can call your local humane society, which is supposed to come to your home and take care of these problems for you, courtesy of the taxpayers. Most people don’t take advantage of this service because they usually end up calling an exterminator and paying for the removal out of their own pocket.

A bondsman works much in the same way as an exterminator. He is the person in the private sector who does a better and more efficient job than the state-run public sector agency. The criminal justice system ought to be designed to work the same way a bondsman does—to make a profit off of criminals. They’re the house and the criminals are the players. The house should always win, but in the case of crime, the house continues to lose, and lose big.

Most bail bonds businesses are family-run operations that have been around for two, three, and even four generations. That connection makes it hard to walk away from the business, but there are also two years’ worth of liabilities that have to be squared away before you can shut your doors. It makes good fiscal sense to keep the business in the family so that the next generation can take over. The good news is that most bondsmen get to learn the system from the ground up because they have been in the business from an early age, which means they understand how the system works inside and out.

I’m a criminal justice expert. If I could,