Charleston Daily Mail

 

Friday April 18, 2008

W.Va. bounty hunter tells his tale

by Dylan Jones

For the Daily Mail

MORGANTOWN - It's 5 a.m. in Florida.

John Vinson and a fellow agent are tracking a fugitive. After breaking down the door of a residence, Vinson and his partner enter the premises and ask a woman if the man they're searching for is inside.

"He's not here! He's not here," she screams.

Vinson notices a pile of dirty clothes in a corner of the room. Upon closer inspection, he sees an ankle hidden beneath the pile. Vinson grabs the ankle, twists it, and his partner assists him in cuffing the fugitive.

Vinson throws the man in the back of his truck and begins the 12-hour drive back to West Virginia.

"That was comparatively easy," Vinson said after recounting the incident. "Not all the busts are that easy. I've been shot at. I know what the bullet sounds like whizzing past your head."

For Vinson, a 58-year-old bounty hunter based in northeastern West Virginia, it's just another day on the job.

"When you hear the sound of the bullet, you think, 'Hit the ground. Hit the damn ground.' It's strictly instinct," Vinson said.

"I've had people walk up behind me and pour a glass of ice water down my back, and I haven't flinched. Most of us in this business have gotten to the point where it's not a question of being afraid, it's knowing what to let bother you and not let bother you."

Vinson, who goes professionally by the term "fugitive recovery agent," is known to most in his business as "Daddy." He said the name came from the way his son introduced him and his wife to friends.

"He always introduced us to his friends as his daddy or mommy," Vinson said. "So for 25 years, we have been called Daddy and Mommy. Everybody has always called me Daddy."

Vinson also has two daughters who reside in Jackson, Miss.

"Daddy" is the founder and owner of GlockCop, LLC, a company that has created a network for fugitive recovery agents to request local assistance around the country. GlockCop currently has branches in West Virginia, Idaho, Michigan, New York, Florida, Georgia, Alabame, Texas and Illinois. We also have an office in Germany. 

The company's slogan - "Sometimes justice needs help. Sometimes they just need us" - is Vinson's testament to law enforcement agencies not having the time or money to coordinate multi-state searches for fugitives. Vinson said the goal of his company is to make busts, like the one in Florida, easier.

Vinson, who is licensed by the state and can carry a concealed weapon in 29 states, including West Virginia, said his company is governed by law enforcement.

"We're not an independent arm of the law," Vinson said. "We rely on local police to assist us, which they do in most cases."

However, Vinson's authority comes with a few perks. He can capture a fugitive in any state and transport that person to whatever state he or she is wanted in. He also can enter a residence without a warrant if he is positive of a fugitive's whereabouts.

"We don't have to knock. At that point, we enter," he said.

Vinson said anytime his company is granted the ability to search for a fugitive by a magistrate court, he can search for that individual "to the fullest extent of the law."

Vinson's photo was among those on the cover of this past Sunday's Parade Magazine. It was the annual "What people earn" issue.  He was listed as a "bounty hunter" with an annual salary of $74,000.

"Seventy-four (thousand) is a little above normal," Vinson said. "The best group I've seen have made around $130,000 to $140,000. It's a very lucrative business."

"We don't get paid unless we actually bring the person to the state they're wanted in and get them incarcerated," he said.

"It's not just locating. We have to physically have them stuffed up in the vehicle and deliver them to that specific county, no matter where the bond was written."

He said the term "bounty hunter" applies more to the "snatch-and-grab cowboys" of years ago. The romanticized vision of car chases and rough men armed to the teeth is a product of movies and television, he said.

"The stuff you see on TV is staged," Vinson said. "A lot of planning goes into a bust. It's not a situation that we get ourselves into without being fully prepared."

   Vinson and his agents try to be very sure the person they're looking

   for is in a given residence before entering, it's the law.

"The biggest thing is computer research and locating the individual," he said. "About 80 percent of the job is research."

Vinson and his agents use an array of high-tech gear to make the process as efficient and safe as possible. His arsenal includes night vision goggles, global positioning satellites that take high-resolution photos every three seconds, tracking devices and Internet access in his vehicles.

"We can get a clear image at anytime of any place and print it from any vehicle, which comes in handy when we're staking an area out," he said.

After the intelligence is gathered, it's all about a quick bust.

"We never go into a situation unless we can be in and out within two to three minutes," Vinson said.

Vinson said he's never been in a situation where he hasn't felt prepared.

"It's due to the fact that we do a lot of research and surveillance before we make a bust," Vinson said. "We have never been surprised."

When Vinson locates and restrains a fugitive, he makes sure he doesn't attempt to extract the individual until he has other agents secure the exit of a building.

"We don't like surprises in this business," he said. "Expect the unexpected, but never be surprised; there's a difference."

It's a motto that has allowed Vinson to run a clean business. In the past four years, Vinson has had to draw his firearm only three times and never has fired a shot.

Vinson and his agents carry Tasers on their left sides and .45-caliber Automatics on the right. They have access to body armor if necessary. Vinson said he prefers Tasers over firearms because children often are present when they enter dwellings.

"I'm never scared when going into a situation; you can't be scared in this business," he said.  "The only thing to be scared of is hurting a kid. That's my biggest fear."

His biggest priority is returning home to his family. He said that mindset gives him the confidence to go into any situation and come out on top.

He said the ability to play many parts is paramount to being a successful fugitive recovery agent.

"You have to be able to sound like a crack user when you're dealing with a crack user," he said.

"You also have to know that the person you're going after may not be running from the law, but don't treat people differently. It's about being able to read people well and never letting your guard down."

He has learned to maintain a sense of humor in a serious business.

"Someone should be a psychiatrist, a Jackie Chan, and they should be a West Virginia redneck," he said. "You have to have the sense to know about the character of who you're talking to."

Vinson attributes his success to his experience. He served in the Marine Corps in the 1960s before joining the Shelby County Sheriff's Department in Tennessee. 

He said his favorite part of being a fugitive recovery agent is knowing he got a criminal off the street. An Ernest Hemingway quote, displayed at the top of his Web site, shows visitors his enthusiasm.

"There is no hunting like the hunting of man, and those who have hunted armed men long enough and liked it, never care for anything else thereafter," Hemingway wrote.

"It's a big rush. The adrenaline takes over," Vinson said.

"When you see him and you know you have him, the adrenaline takes over, but you can't let it control you. You have to remain calm and keep a peripheral vision of the people around you, and it's one of the highest highs you can have."