When people think of bounty hunters, many people conjure up images of Dog the Bounty Hunter and his crew, kicking doors in and arresting uncooperative criminals. Not all bounty hunters chose such a forceful path.
Sherrie Corbin is a 52-year-old mother, nurse, and bounty hunter. She works with her husband in Michigan to catch people that skip out on court dates, and she tries to give them an opportunity to learn from their mistakes. After all, no one wants to have to deal with a bounty hunter if they can avoid it.
As she hunts down people, Corbin tries to talk to them about their situation. She understands that in some cases, people are afraid of going to prison, and running seems like the best option. She says that many situations arise out of illegal drug use, especially meth. Corbin wants to let people know this can be the last time they need to deal with a bounty hunter.
Jeff Potter, one of her associates, also works as a paramedic and notes that being a bounty hunter requires a lot of social awareness. He often needs to have a strong bead on people, even to the point of convincing mothers to rat their children out.
Ultimately, Corbin and Potter say that bounty hunting is most successful when they are involved in their local communities. Potter donates to local baseball teams and organizes community drives. He also maintains pleasant ties with people who he’s worked with before and gives people plenty of chances to get to the courthouse before he comes after them. He says that by sticking close to the community, he and his company have never lost a single person in seven years.