Short answers, pulled from the story.
The United States Supreme Court issued a ruling in Taylor v. Taintor in the year 1873 that granted bail bondsmen sweeping rights to reclaim their clients without needing police assistance.
A typical commission structure pays bounty hunters about 10% of the total bail amount owed by the fugitive, and they claimed to catch 31,500 bail jumpers per year representing roughly 90% of people who skip bail.
Four states including Illinois, Kentucky, Oregon, and Wisconsin have outlawed commercial bail bonds entirely as of 2008 while Nebraska and Maine followed suit in 2012 banning surety bail bonds within their borders.
American bounty hunters face serious legal problems when attempting apprehension outside United States national borders without extradition treaties because taking a person into custody abroad could be charged as kidnapping under foreign laws lacking recognition for bail agents powers.
Agents often wear bullet-resistant vests along with badges bearing inscriptions reading bail enforcement agent and many arm themselves with firearms alongside less lethal weapons like tasers batons tear gas CS gas pepper spray or pepper spray projectiles.