Jenny "Jag" Garcia, leader of TV's toughest bunch of broads - the all-girl team of bounty hunters-turned-reality stars from Bounty Girls: Miami.
KEY POINTS:
We don't have bounty hunters in New Zealand. What exactly is it that you do? How are you different from a private investigator?
Well, we are state licensed agents. I work for Sunshine State Bail Bonds, which is a private company. The way it works in the
States, if somebody gets arrested let's say cocaine possession that has a $5000 bond. People don't have $5000 so we would give $5000 directly to the jail so they can come out until they go to court. But what happens is, sometimes these clients miss court, so they become fugitives. That's when my boss Jim Viola comes in and gives me a file. If we don't find these people within 60 days, we lose our money. Once we get the file, we start doing skip-tracing. Skip-tracing is where we go back and find where they live, what car they're driving, their family members, where they work ... All the basic information.
So how did you get into this line of work?
I really wanted to become a police officer but then I got pregnant. I just wanted to have handcuffs and a gun. It was very tough getting into it because it's a very male dominated business. It was very difficult for me to get in it because I was the only female actually working. My daughter is 21 now but when I started she was two-and-a-half.
Obviously there are more women in the job now. You head up a team of four women.
Right, I have four women in my team. But to be honest, there's not really too many women that do this work. I can actually count them on my fingers, me being number one in the business.
And, as women, do you employ different techniques or do you go about it the same way as your male contemporaries?
Oh, no, no, no. Males work a little bit different than the females. We use a lot of trickery, scams and of course our sex appeal, because that's what we do have. We can go places that men can not get into.
What sort of crimes have the people you're hunting committed?
We have anything from grand theft, to anybody who buys drugs or sells drugs, from child molesters, to kidnappers, to armed robbers, to murders. You name it, we got it.
So it's a dangerous line of work?
Yes - and it's so much fun!
What would be the most dangerous situation you've encountered?
Boy, I would have to think. Through the years, I've had so many. I guess it was a case where I apprehended a young girl, I think it was for grand theft, she stabbed me in the stomach. I have a scar to prove it. But you know what? I got her.
Is that what it's all about for you? The thrill of the chase and the catch?
You know, with that particular case, even though I did get knifed by her, I was still able to put handcuffs on her and put her in custody. And that's what this business is all about. It's about captures. My team has a 95 per cent capture rate. Using the girls on my team, and the scams and the trickery that we do, it really works a lot better than what the men do. Men use their muscles to knock down doors. We don't do that, we use our sexuality to open the door.
How might you set someone up?
Well, it depends. If you were looking for say, a child molester, I might go ahead and use my youngest bounty hunter, or maybe even my daughter, dress her up as a young girl and knock at his door. They'll let you in if you're a young girl and they're a child molester or a predator. Every case is different. I might be a UPS girl, I might be a prostitute walking the streets looking for another prostitute. It all depends on the case.
And you've never been put off the job by any of your experiences?
Oh no. I love what I do. It doesn't matter how dangerous it could possibly be. That doesn't keep me away.
Do most people come quietly or do they put up a fight?
Oh no. Some people do go quietly but most give you a fight. Especially the women. The women fugitives stick their nails at you like cats.
And if they are putting up a fight, you mentioned you carry a gun ... I'll taser them. I carry a gun and I carry a taser. But I find that people are more scared of tasers. Let me tell you, they are a great weapon, they really are.
Do you ever call the police for back-up?
I never call the police for back-up. That's why I have a team. I never call the police.
Bounty Girls: Miami screens on Sky's Crime & Investigation channel