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By Bradley J. Steiner
Although I have never worked as a “bounty hunter,” I have worked as a bodyguard. I have also trained bodyguards. I have also written about them (in SOLDIER OF FORTUNE, and in the JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR INDUSTRIAL SECURITY, and elsewhere). My unpublished manual for bodyguards (YOU ARE EXPENDABLE! ©2003 by Bradley J. Steiner) is, if I do say so myself, one of the best practical texts ever written on the subject.
Bounty hunting, while a legitimate and perhaps sometimes worthwhile endeavor (after all, there have been cases when bounty hunters have succeeded where FBI and other federal level enforcement officers have failed), is something that I admit to having uncomfortable feelings about.
While a truly professional bounty hunter who knows what he is about and whose personal character is exemplary will get no quarrel from me, I am worried about the legion of gun-toting morons who like the idea of kicking down doors and “getting someone” (as opposed to working for a living).
It is necessary to get dangerous, violent fugitives out of society; however, it is not permissible to endanger and to trammel upon the rights of everyone who—sometimes without ever having done anything genuinely wrong, at all—happens to be a “fugitive.”
For those considering “bounty hunting” I would respectfully suggest that you join an organization like the FBI, or the U.S. Marshall’s Service, and satisfy your need for adventure in hunting down fugitives with one of these agencies.
For those wanting to be bodyguards, I will remind you that the calling is extremely difficult to get into (at any respectable level) since, erroneously, those who hire bodyguards in the private sector are under the misconception that former U.S. Secret Service, FBI, and other law enforcement people do the best job, and make the best bodyguards.
Often, former Secret Service men might have an edge; but we have no knowledge of former FBI, city, state, or other “police” personnel being any more effective at the job of providing “executive protection” than private individuals who have properly prepared themselves for the task.
“Proper preparation” for bodyguarding means a lot more than learning close combat and being in good shape! It entails enormous work in studying the way stalkers, terrorists, and so forth operate. It involves learning how to do threat analysis workups and risk surveys. It involves mastering special driving skills, emergency medical response, and how homemade and other explosives and incendiary devices are employed. It involves being able to coordinate activities with law enforcement (liaison work) and being able to work with teams. It involves learning a dozen or more other skills that the typical martial arts moron cannot even spell, let alone render as a service!
After becoming well-qualified there is this: Unless one is extremely lucky one will make almost nothing for that which the job requires—if he finds an employer. One will be out of work more than one will be employed, and— eventually—if one truly has the brains that it takes to be a bodyguard, ONE
WILL GET THE HELL OUT OF THE PROFESSION!
Sorry to be so negative, but there is no reason not to tell the truth!