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I heard a comment from a bail agent that, he felt that APOB is being pushed and financed by Seneca Surety and Bail USA. One of their goals is to also sign up more bail agents with Seneca.
That may very well be a true statement. If you look back at my posts earlier this year, in Richmond, Va... during several meetings involving the APOB, Seneca/Bail USA was very well represented with Ms. Burns, CEO/President giving a short pep talk.
I will say at this point that I am a surety agent. I write for Seneca/Bail USA and have represented them for about half of my 10 years in this business. I have found them to be a very good surety to work with and frankly I have had my fill of BS general agents and other sureties that I had the unfortunate connection with in my early .... formative years. I have seen both sides of the coin in this business and my association with Bail USA and Seneca has been nothing but positive to date.
If Seneca, as a surety, is attempting to increase its take of the business by hiring more bail agents, well, that I do believe is what business is all about. Increasing the number of agents dilutes our income potential as individual agents but of course has the opposite effect on the surety. They are looking to build, we are looking to reduce competition, so is there a middle ground? Probably not.
I want you to read a statement copied from Bail USA's public website. This is open internet so I am not stating anything but what is already out there. I make no comments either for or against this posting. Read it and judge for yourself.
As stated, this is a quote from Bail USA/Seneca as posted by Cheryl Burns, CEO/President. I have met and talked with her on several occasions and found her to be a very personable and honest individual.
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A Message From the President
Cheryl Burns, President
November 4, 2010
Bail Agents,
What happened in Colorado over the past several months is a testament to how much can be done when a group of committed people decide to get involved and fight for principle. Before Safe Streets Colorado and Proposition 102, the Colorado bail industry was doomed. Bail surety leaders openly discussed their contempt for Colorado and their lack of concern for whether bail remained in the state. Several people, including people concerned about public safety, bail professionals, and activists joined to fight a near certain doom.
The result of their efforts, while Prop 102 did not pass, was more than a half million people standing against criminal welfare and supporting commercial bail in Colorado. This showing - impossible without the efforts of groups like Safe Streets, will likely be the reason the bail industry continues to live in Colorado.
There are some in our industry, particularly at the corporate surety level, who would see this important showing not as a win for Colorado bail agents, but as an opportunity to exert their brand of apologist rhetoric on the people of Colorado and bail agents across the country. This style, which has led to the decay of the bail bond industry in the face of growing tax funded bail programs, is directly responsible for serious and crippling losses over the past 30 plus years. Our industry can ill afford the old, tired, out of touch leadership that has led us down a path toward certain destruction.
I care about bail agents, and I feel a responsibility toward hard working bail professionals who do their jobs in a noble and committed fashion. However, the fight to save bail is about more than that. Our very system of justice is dependent upon a defendant, who is innocent until proven guilty, having an opportunity to garner pretrial release and prepare for their trial - while guaranteeing their appearance in court. Commercial bail does this better by far, and giving in to a system where a defendant's only option for pretrial release is to petition their prosecutor creates a culture ripe for government and prosecutorial abuse.
We have sat on the sideline for thirty years and watched the same old, tired philosophy lead us to the brink of destruction. In a few short months, however, a new outlook has educated and convinced a half million people in Colorado on the importance of commercial bail. We can ill afford to take a broken and dangerous path full of apologist rhetoric and old ideas, when engaging government funded bail programs in support of bail agents creates a fairer and more impartial justice system for all Americans.
Given the facts, we have no choice but to continue fighting - supporting bail agents and embracing new ideas over tired, old, and ineffective leadership.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Cheryl Burns
President & CEO
Bail USA Inc.
I have read this several times and unless I am missing something, I think it is a positive post that supports us as an industry. If someone can point out a negative side to this post I am all ears.
I cannot address the possibility that Seneca is a strong supporter of APOB. Ms. Burns spoke at two of their meeting that I personally attended in Richmond this year and I know that Seneca made a sizable donation, but then so did several others at the meeting and on the surface I would say that the agenda of APOB would be positive. I do not think they are getting much support from the rank and file of the bail industry. I may be wrong on this point but that is my take as I see it in my travels.
I would also like to hear the general thoughts on APOB and its relationship to us as individual agents. I am getting rather negative vibes on their involvement. Lets hear some facts as the may relate... facts not emotions on this subject please.
I am always open to intelligent discussions based on facts.
