Keep Bailing

You have a collect call from the Los Angeles County jail; Will you accept the charges?

Parents of college students like to complain that their kids never call, but there’s one call that no parent wants: “Mom? I’ve been arrested…”

If you get that call, you’re likely to be shocked, embarrassed, and worried both about your child and about the expense. Certainly, you should be worried, but embarrassed? Well, maybe not so much. Kids make mistakes – sometimes really big ones – whether their parents are ordinary folks struggling with family issues, a New Mexico County Sheriff, or even the British Prime Minister.
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I just received a letter from Linda Braswell, PBUS President, regarding bounty hunter Leonard Padilla and the Casey Anthony bail. Ms. Braswell was commenting on the sad “carnival” atmosphere around the case and specifically Mr. Padilla’s comments regarding bail bondsmen. 

Ms. Braswell’s letter brought to mind a topic that is perhaps a hot button for me: ethics in the bail industry. The bail bond profession, perhaps more than most other professions, presents us with daily ethical and professional challenges. Doing the right thing is not always easy. At the end of the day, you have to be able to look in the mirror and like what you see. 

For example, I know most bail agents have been involved in bail transactions involving extremely large amounts of cash. The cash is sitting on the table in front of them: $5,000, maybe even $10,000 in cash.  They can smell the cash. They have mentally already begun spending the money. They are thinking about which pocket would be best suited for this big wad of cash. There is a huge adrenaline rush involved. All of a sudden, the indemnitor throws an ethical twist into the transaction that makes the entire deal illegal. What would you do? Read more »

Last week, I did a dumb thing… which turned into something unexpectedly fun for me. Some people get excited about rare coins and books or other antiques. What would you suppose thrills bail bondmen?

I was meeting friends in San Clemente for an annual get together. Every year, I make the long drive on a Friday in horrendous Los Angeles and Orange County, traffic through the San Fernando Valley across the 101 and down the 405 South. Quite possibly the worst traffic in the world on a hot August afternoon in my estimation! (If you don’t live in So Cal, the traffic is every bit as nasty as the movie Falling Down where Michael Douglas gets out and leaves his car on the freeway out of frustration.)

This year, I realized I could take the Amtrak Surfliner to San Clemente Pier and sit back and relax. Yes, what a lovely way to go! All fine and good until I got off one stop too soon. I had been listening to the stops and heard the next one to be San Juan Capistrano. The train stopped for about three minutes and I knew San Clemente was after San Juan, so I got off when the train stopped again. Apparently, we had stopped to let another train pass. I was feeling incredibly stupid! I may be blonde, but no one ever accused me of being air-headed. The next train being an hour later, I called for a ride. Hey, live in L.A. We don’t wait around; we drive. Pathetic, I realize… Then I discovered this lovely little neighborhood surrounding the train station. Read more »

Technology isn’t the only thing that’s changed since my father, Cal Rynerson, opened his Orange County bail bonds company in 1971. The Internet, fax machines, and cell phones have all changed how customers find us and how we do business. Another big change has been in how bail bondsman are trained and licensed.

Unlike 30 years ago, it’s now possible to wake up one morning, say: “Hey! I think I’ll become a bail bondsman!” and about 6 months later open your own company. Sometimes, the old ways really were better.

When Dad became a bondsman, he was required to complete what was called an apprenticeship with another licensed California bail agent. After learning the business and basically getting the approval of the licensed agent, the apprentice could get licensed and go out on his own. The licensed agent would invite an apprentice into the business and sponsor him.

My father worked with a bondsman named Pete Devitch. Pete is a bit of legend in the bail industry. I remember Pete as a colorful guy, full of great stories, who always carried around a wad of hundreds. Read more »

Following the Boss’s Orders Can Land You in Jail

When people hear that we’re in bail bonds, one of the first things they say is, “You must work with some interesting people.” Yes, we do work with interesting people, but probably not in the way that you would think. Most of our clients are regular people like you, your kids, or your grandparents. In this case, one of those regular people happened to discover a dead body. Of course, it’s not illegal to find a dead body. But it does become a criminal matter if you find one and wait several days before you call the police! Now, for the rest of the story… Read more »

From Pencils to Pagers to Blogs

If you have kids, you’ve heard them giggle, “You didn’t even have cell phones when you were a kid! Did you have electricity?” As I prepared to launch the Keep Bailing blog, I realized how lucky Greg and I are to have modern tools that Greg’s dad, Cal Rynerson, never even dreamed of when he started his bail bond business almost 40 years ago.

Cal Rynerson, became a licensed California bail agent in 1969 and started Rynerson Bail Bonds in 1971 (the same year Roy Tomlinson sent the first email). That was before personal computers, before fax machines, before cell phones, before websites. Cal did business the old fashioned way, with pens, paper, and face-to-face personal interaction. (Imagine that?)

With an office located directly across the street from the Santa Ana jail, he regularly had walk-in customers. He wrote 95% of his bonds for the local jail, often handling 10 or more bonds each day. Ten bonds may not sound like a lot, but each one requires a bail bond interview, paperwork, and a trip to the jail. At the time, the average Southern California bail bond was around $500.

Now, the average bail in So Cal is around $20,000. We’d be lucky to write ten bonds in a week! With the proliferation of internet and the glut of competition, Greg and I need to write bonds all over California. There’s no way we could do business the way Cal did 30 years ago. Read more »