Ajit Pai and Republicans in Congress Helped Enable 'Bounty Hunters' to Track Your Phone

[Igel]

3. I think the problem is that a lot of people just don't like bounty hunters.

They're sort of civilian law enforcement that does less law enforcement and more "get the guy" work.

The popular image is they go around, rough people up, can shoot with impunity, sort of the Wild West in 21st century New York City. And since they often get the wrong guy, or need to use violence, innocent bystanders really suffer.

Recently some reporter in something I read took on that media image and said that most apprehensions are done by knocking on the target's door and saying, "I'm a bounty hunter, you're in violation of your agreement and I'm taking you to the police." If the target runs, the bounty hunter may run but only uses force in the event that they're assaulted. That might be an accurate characterization or not, I have no idea. Can't find the thing online.

But still, most people react to what's in films and on Twitter. "This is a really boring explanation of really boring facts" tends to be forgotten real quick and one fictional action-packed scene that might have some partisan grievance worked into it has a greater effect.