Where Mercy Is Shown, Mercy Is Given (2010)

by Chapman, Duane Dog

  Illinois, Kentucky, Wisconsin, and Oregon are the only states in the union that do not allow bail bonds—they’ve actually outlawed them. They are the 10-percent-to-the-state states, meaning a defendant puts up 10 percent of their bail to the state instead of a bondsman. They only use the pretrial release program, which in my opinion has been absolutely disastrous for them. Thousands of victims will never get closure on their cases because their assailants have disappeared. In Chicago alone there are thousands of open cases on the books because the defendants cannot be found and they don’t convict in absentia. It has to be terribly frustrating for anyone trying to bring a fugitive to justice in those states, because the pretrial release program works against them.

  Bounty hunting has been outlawed in Oregon since 1974, but recently the state has seen the error of its ways and is now trying to bring bail bonds and bounty hunting back. The bill has already cleared the House and is set to head to the full Senate for consideration. Senator Jason Atkinson actually said, “In the faint hope of meeting Dog the Bounty Hunter, I will vote yes.”

  The state government in Oregon has recognized how much money it has wasted because it can’t bring fugitives to justice. If it allows bounty hunting, I can find these guys so that their cases can go forward and the victims can be vindicated. Case closed. The state gets the revenue from the fines and crime goes down. I would volunteer my time to help any one of these states get its system in order so it could start making money on crime instead of losing it.

  It used to be that the prison system was about incarceration and rehabilitation. Unfortunately, there’s only incarceration these days. There are no Tony Robbins courses in jail to help the inmates become rehabilitated, functioning members of society when they get out. We aren’t educating the inmates, teaching them how to read and write, or making sure they have a skill set when they’re released, so we aren’t preparing them to reenter a world where they have to make decisions all on their own. Their lack of decision-making skills is what landed most of these guys in the clink in the first place, so why on earth would we not offer them some type of program to help teach these inmates the skills they’ll need to not only survive but thrive on the outside?

  We break them down but never build them back up. There are some people who think we shouldn’t offer prisoners anything—that they made their bed and now they have to lie in it. But to the prisoners I say, “Who cares what they think? You committed a crime, but you don’t get to lie around doing nothing.” That’s nothing more than free, lazy living. When I was in Huntsville, I spent my days picking cotton in one-hundred-degree heat and humidity. I’m certain that kind of hard-labor punishment works, because I never want to go back there again. If prison weren’t so easy, people wouldn’t be content with going there. For too many, prison is a free ride on easy street. Those guys get an all-expense-paid vacation, and guess who’s footing the bill? Me and you! In the meantime, your taxes go through the roof, your insurance rates are sky-high, and your identity is put at risk while the guy who stole your car stereo or used your Social Security number lies around in a cell for six months trying to figure out who he’s going to harm next.

  Jail should be reserved for repeat offenders, those people who can’t get it through their heads that they cannot continue to commit crime. For first-time offenders, I’ve found that money is a great deterrent. Anytime a criminal has to go into his pocket and come up with cash, it’s a big “ouch.” Money hurts those guys the worst. In this economy and in today’s society, we need to start looking for other means of punishment without it actually costing taxpayers money or becoming a burden to society.

  Take someone like Leona Helmsley or Martha Stewart—two obviously brilliant women who had no prior criminal history. Their attitude and demeanor were why they ended up in jail. Like them or not, that’s not supposed to come into play when a judge is making his or her decision on sentencing. Both women were made to pay back the money they owed, suffered tremendous public humiliation, and were still sentenced to jail, where taxpayers had to pay for their incarceration. I don’t agree with that outcome. I think they should have been placed in welfare situations, sent to inner-city public recreation centers and schools, where they could have influenced the lives of those who were less fortunate. They could have had to spend their time showing people how to enter the workforce, helping them get back on their feet, and teaching them how to cook and sew. Surely their skills could have been taught to the underprivileged, easing the stress on our state budgets in the process. That would have allowed them to do something good for society without costing the state any additional money. And if the state still felt compelled to incarcerate these women, they should have been required to pay for their stay. They had the means and ability to subsidize the cost of their imprisonment. This type of alternative sentencing would have had a far greater impact on these women, because it would have knocked the chip off their shoulders. Instead, Martha came out of prison thinner, healthier than she had been in years, and with a television deal to do The Apprentice, while Leona Helmsely remained the Queen of Mean for the rest of her days, never showing remorse for what she had done to cheat the system.

  There should be a government task force that gathers information from all of the white-collar criminals in the system, so we can learn from them how to better prevent these crimes in the future. Someone like Bernard Madoff will never be able to make up for the horrible crimes he committed against thousands of innocent people, but we certainly could tap into his brilliance to find flaws in the system so that no one will ever be able to get away with what he did again. He could work with a team of experts, the SEC, or the Federal Reserve to show them where the system is flawed and how he was able to get away with his crimes for so long. The government should make Bernard Madoff work with the IRS or financial institutions that are in the red, day in and day out, for the rest of his life. A guy like that knows the financial system inside and out. Force him to share his knowledge and expertise so that the government might have a shot at balancing the budget or shifting the economic downturn. All of this at no cost to the government because the criminals would have to provide it for free as part of their sentence. No vacations, no days off—Madoff would have to do nothing but hard work with a purpose for the rest of his life.

  If we can somehow accept these criminals for what they’ve done and use them where they fit in to help improve our way of life, we could avoid letting them lie around in prison, where they do nothing and become an absolute drain on our economy. We’re paying them to be there. We pay for their cell, their air-conditioning, their meals, the staffing of the prison, the sheriff, and round-the-clock babysitting by every guard on duty twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. And if you are going to put these people in jail, bill them! Make them pay the two hundred dollars or more a day it costs to keep them incarcerated.

  People often ask me if our judicial system can be improved. The answer is absolutely. The system can be fixed by involving more citizens and installing a harsher range of fines. For example, if a guy steals a car, we as taxpaying citizens will pay somewhere in the neighborhood of two hundred dollars or more a day to keep him in jail. In general, that thief will get probation for a first offense, putting him right back on the streets, where the likelihood is he will steal another car—or do something even worse. If he gets caught, he’s going back to jail for three to five years. If it costs two hundred dollars a day to keep that criminal in the system, it will cost you, as a taxpayer, $365,000 to keep that one offender in prison for five years. That’s a lot of money!

  Here’s my idea on how we can fix the system for this type of crime. Hit them in the pocketbook. You fine the guy for every offense. The first time he is caught, it’ll cost him five grand or he will get five years. I’m pretty sure that someone will come up with that money to make sure their son, brother, boyfriend, or husband isn’t put away for five years. The next offense will cost double—ten thousand dollars or six years in prison. Again, someon
e has to come up with that money or he’s going away for a long time. Every offense he commits will cost him more and more money, until the financial benefit of crime just doesn’t make sense. If he boosts a car that he knows he can only get a few thousand dollars for, he’s going to think twice if it is going to cost him triple that if he gets caught. Add up the cost of the lawyer, court fees, and fines and you’re talking about a substantial amount of money.

  The more serious the crime, the steeper the fine. Armed robbery would cost the perpetrator a lot more than petty theft. If you hurt someone while committing your crime, there’s no option of a fine, just mandatory jail time. If you’re a drug dealer, that eight-hundred-dollar bag of heroin will cost you eight thousand dollars in fines.

  I’ve made a lot of money on the criminal justice system over the years. Every time someone jumps, I laugh because I’m going after the reward, which I always get. If you fine people for their crimes, sooner or later they will give up their ways because they won’t be able to keep coming up with the cash to get out of their situation. If they keep committing crime, they’re going away for a very long time. Believe me, they’ll get into a different line of work before they’ll choose to do hard time.

  Ever since my television show hit the air, jumps from my bail bond business have gone down because no one wants to be chased by me and a camera crew. The courts have seen a significant rise in attendance and I have seen a significant decrease in “failures to appear.” Getting busted on television is humiliating for both the perpetrator and his family, but it sure is a great way to remedy crime. Beth calls this method “shame therapy.”

  Most everyone has seen Dateline NBC, the television news program where Chris Hansen traps online predators coming to the home of underage girls. When the suspects meet Chris Hansen and realize they’re going to be on television for their crime, they are humiliated, embarrassed, and uncomfortable for their decision to be there. This type of bust is effective and really works as a deterrent.

  If you want to catch a criminal, set up cameras on the streets. Start taping the comings and goings of suspected drug dealers’ homes. They’ll either move their entire operation in twenty-four hours—something most won’t do because they don’t know how—or blam, they’re out of business. The cost of video surveillance is minuscule compared to the man hours it would take to set up a stakeout.

  Another way to lower crime is to get officers out of their patrol cars and onto the streets. Policemen ride around in their patrol cars, protecting themselves from the very people they’re out looking for. If officers began walking their beat, they’d have a much better sense of what’s really happening in those neighborhoods. They need to knock on doors and talk to the people who live in these cities and streets that they protect and serve, to hear firsthand accounts of who, what, and where they need to be searching. They need to meet the citizens who pay their salaries and hear their concerns. Then, and only then, can they be more effective and successful in reducing crime in those areas.

  I believe so strongly in my ideas to cut crime that I’d be willing to stake my badge on the results. If these ideas were implemented, I would expect to see a 50 percent or more drop in crime over a period of ninety days. I hope to someday have the opportunity to bring these ideas to fruition, to test my theories and to help finally bring more peace to our communities.

  INTERMISSION TWO

  CHAPTER 16

  (credit: Chaz)

  “Your momma sure does have some sexy panties,” I said into the phone. One of my favorite tactics to bring in a fugitive is to slam him with a bunch of phone calls in a row, so he knows I’m on his trail and to get him to reveal some valuable information. Most times they fall right into my trap.

  “What did you say about my Momma?” The voice on the other end of the line was that of a fugitive I’d been hunting for days. I was taunting him with all sorts of comments about his momma’s lingerie.

  “I went through her panty drawer and touched her bras too. Man, you have a fine momma,” I told him.

  And then I hung up. Click. For whatever reason, the guy kept calling me back. And when he did, I kept taunting him, hoping I would anger him enough so he’d call me back again, mess up, and reveal where he was hiding. I’d hit his mom’s house earlier in the day, but he wasn’t there. Even though we didn’t grab him, I was positive he’d hear we were out looking for him. Every time he called me back, he blocked the number he was calling from so I wouldn’t be able to see it on my caller ID. Whenever I saw private number flash on the screen of my phone, I’d pick it up and say something vulgar just to get his attention.

  “Your sister is almost as hot as your momma. I’d love to see her naked.”

  Click.

  And the next time he called I said, “Is this smell Febreze or at ease?”

  Click.

  My phone rang again, private number.

  “Hello?”

  “What did you say about my momma’s panties?” the guy yelled on the other end of the line. He was getting angrier with each call. “If you ever go to my mom’s house again, I’m going to kill you!”

  “Oh yeah? Well, I’m on my way back there right now,” I said. “Your momma’s pink panties were really nice. And they smell good too. I am going back to see them again. Maybe she’ll be wearing them this time…”

  Click.

  Eventually, I knew he’d trip up, forget to block his number, and blam, he’d be mine. Sure enough, the very next call, his number popped up on my screen. He was raging mad. He’d also found out I had been to several homes of friends and family looking for him. When I answered this time, I pulled a little reverse psychology.

  “Listen, you can yell all you want, I don’t have time to talk to you right now. I’ll call you back.” Beth was in the background yelling, “We got the number! Hang up! Hang up!”

  So I hung up on him. Click!

  I could practically see the confused look on his face when I hung up the phone. The next time he called, his number was blocked again. I wasn’t sure he ever realized he’d already given us the break we’d been waiting for. Once I had the telephone number from the hard line he was calling from, I could pinpoint his location.

  It wasn’t unusual for me to taunt skips like this. Whenever I talked about their moms or sisters, I knew I’d get their blood boiling and it would be just a matter of time before they made a fatal mistake allowing me to make my capture. I’ve gotten really good at tripping the psychological triggers of fugitives over the years. The more personal I get, the easier they are to find. And whenever I can’t get to them, I know I’ve got the person in my posse who can—my Beth.

  I started bringing Beth on bounty hunts a couple of years after I met her in 1988, mostly because I would come home and tell her stories that she wouldn’t believe. I said she ought to start coming with me to see what happens with her own two eyes. She was a real natural our first time out. Over the years, she has become an integral part of what I do, although her presence has forced me to change the way I work. I used be able to use my charm and good looks to get information out of people, especially women. My sweet talk was my secret weapon. These days, whenever I try to go there, Beth is right up in my business making sure I don’t. That’s when I call in one of the boys and tell them to go talk to the woman for a while. I’ll call him over, give him a wink, and send him into the lion’s den until we get what we need. Duane Lee will go right over, no hesitation. If we send Leland in, Beth will tell him to let down his ponytail because there aren’t a lot of women out there who don’t think that boy doesn’t look good with his long loose hair. And let’s be clear, what’s good for the goose is also good for gander. If Beth tries to point her “double-barreled” so-called shotguns in someone’s face, I tell her to cover those things up!

  People sometimes think of Beth and me as the Bickersons, but there’s nothing more meaningful to me than being in a relationship with a strong woman who believes in me, has a mind of her own, and totally understan
ds everything about my life. Even if it doesn’t always look like it, we’re usually working toward the same goal.

  It’s true that I debate with her a lot and let her win those fights…most of the time. Even when I know she’s wrong, I always try to let her think she’s right, and to be totally fair, she usually is. Even so, I always try to be a gentleman with her. In the field, however, I’m completely different with Beth. She’s no longer my wife—she’s a crucial member of the team. Sometimes she gets upset with me when I get stern or order her to do something out on the road, but she knows I still love her. More important than that, Beth is often the reason we get our guy. I wouldn’t be able to do it without her by my side.

  The guy I was taunting on the phone was a client of Mary Ellen’s, and Mary Ellen didn’t like to lose money, so not finding him wasn’t an option. Beth looked up the corresponding address to the phone number he had called from and discovered that it was a rural farmhouse in Brighton, a town just outside of Denver. We called the Brighton police to let them know we were on our way. They said they’d give us thirty minutes to get to the farm or they’d make the bust themselves. Thirty minutes was a push for us to get geared up, make the drive, and get our guy.

  Beth and I jumped into my car and floored it, driving ninety-five miles per hour in order to get there on time. I was hoping and praying we didn’t get pulled over on our way down. Beth, who is usually the driver, was on the floorboard the entire time, scared we were going to crash.

  When we got to the property, we saw that the farm was set way back off the road. There were fields as far as the eye could see. If someone was looking out the window of the house, they’d spot us coming up the driveway because of the dust and debris our car kicked up on the dry dirt road. There was no way we could ever sneak up on them without being noticed.