Delaware Intelligence Agency - TARU

Delaware Business License Number = 2017101112

The Delaware Intelligence Agency (DIA), formerly known as the Delaware Technical Assistance Response Unit & Surveillance Operations Task Force is intended to be established as a multi-talented public safety group located and headquartered in the City of Wilmington, Delaware with statewide jurisdiction and with the expectation of rapid expansion in the bail bonds, surety & risk management, law enforcement and fugitive recovery industry.

Our main priority is to assist any and all City, County, State, private and Federal Law Enforcement Agencies in the recovery and apprehension of wanted fugitive offenders and to aid in specialized technical investigations "by way and of the use of Modern Day Technology."

By virtue, the Superintendent of Operations, who is appointed by the Board of Directors consisting of Licensed Bail Bondsman, Bail Enforcement Agents and Retired Law Enforcement Personnel, is charged with the overall oversight of all investigative operations as called upon by several Law Enforcement and Bail Bonding Agencies throughout the State. The Superintendent of Operations reserves the authority to coordinate and plan tactical and technical operations and is responsible for ensuring the effectiveness of each investigative assignment. The Executive Director, who is backed by four Deputy Superintendents, has implemented the whole "Delegate, Expect and Inspect" concept.

Intelligence Officers, who reports to a designated Deputy Superintendent, are special enforcement personnel who are trained to observe threat levels, gain information through observing high crime and drug areas and gathering of criminal and gang activity, direct security operations and other activities that involve investigative and observational operations regarding threats to the safety of the public and people as a whole. Furthermore, Intelligence Officers are personnel who are trained to respond to all types of emergencies pertaining to crime prevention, fugitive recovery and/or bail enforcement and other types of public service calls. Intelligence Officers are also tasked with the duty of providing law enforcement officers with special types of assistance when and while performing their lawful duties.

By law, certified, licensed and/or authorized, bail bonds investigators, bail enforcement and/or fugitive recovery agents (investigators) and Skip Tracers and Process Servers can use a number of techniques for fugitive recovery investigations. Unlike police officers, bail enforcement/fugitive recovery professionals are not limited by warrants and probable cause. They may pursue fugitives outside the state or wherever they think they may be hiding. They're allowed to break into a home where they believe there may be fugitives in hiding. This can make a fugitive recovery professional more effective than the police in tracking down a fugitive. Sometimes, investigators must use surveillance to find a fugitive. They may also have to run background checks or impersonate others in order to get close enough to the fugitive to verify their identity. Once fugitives are caught, fugitive recovery does not end until the fugitive recovery agent has delivered the criminal to the courts or the respective correctional institutions.

All employees of the Delaware Intelligence Agency - TARU are to be considered "Conservators of the Peace" who exercise the same powers of arrest as other sworn law enforcement officers in maintaining the up keeping of the law and the good standing of the Peace.

The act of skip tracing is most often used by bail bondsmen, bounty hunters, repossession agents, private investigators, debt collectors, and even journalists. Skip tracing, however, may be performed by a professional — called a skip tracer — who is an expert in this process.

The term skip tracing is most often used in the field of bail bonds and bounty hunting, and many bounty hunters and bail bondsmen use the services of skip tracers to help locate individuals who have failed to meet the conditions of their bond. Because of this, skip tracing and bounty hunting are often mistakenly used synonymously.

Skip tracing is a unique process, however, and, although it is often a function of bounty hunting, the two actions are distinctly different. In short, bounty hunters can act as skip tracers, but skip tracers cannot serve as bounty hunters.

Both bail bondsmen and bounty hunters use skip tracing to locate an individual who has skipped bail. Because the defendant who skips bail does not want to be found for fear of being sent to prison (referred to as an intentional skip, versus an unintentional skip, which involves a person who isn’t trying to avoid detection), the job of skip tracing in the bail bonds field can be quite challenging.

Skip tracing in bounty hunting involves assessing information on the subject and uncovering facts to help in the apprehension of the fugitive. Using both traditional records and online tools and databases, all the while abiding by federal, state and local laws, such as trespass laws and privacy laws, skip tracers collect evidence and compose reports that are then used by bounty hunters when attempting an apprehension of the fugitive.

Skip tracing is not unlike detective work, as it involves scouring databases, understanding where and how to search for information, and following up on leads. Skip tracing professionals conduct interviews, engage in surveillance activities, and assess information about their subject.

Skip tracing is performed by collecting information on the individual in question. All information recovered by the skip tracer is analyzed, verified, and used to determine the location of the individual. Skip tracing may involve gathering and analyzing a great deal of information or very little information, both of which have their own set of advantages and disadvantages.

Although most skip tracers now head to the Internet to gather information on the whereabouts of individuals, many also employ social engineering, the art of calling on individuals who may have information about the subject.

It is the job of the skip tracer to use any number of resources and databases to collect the required information. As such, skip tracing often involves accessing the following:
•Phone number databases
•Credit reports
•Credit card applications
•Job applications
•Criminal background checks
•Loan applications
•Utility bills
•Public tax information
•Public records databases
•Courthouse records
•Department store loyalty cards
•Air travel records
•Driver’s license/vehicle registration departments

Although there are no formal training requirements for performing skip tracing, professionals who want to learn how to become a skip tracer should make it a priority to learn about state and federal laws regarding everything from surveillance laws to privacy laws. Individuals interested in jobs in skip tracing may also achieve more career opportunities by specializing in a specific area of skip tracing, such as bounty hunting or debt collecting. Many skip tracers receive their training on the job, working for bail bond agencies, private investigation firms, debt collection agencies, etc. A good working knowledge of computer systems and databases is required to achieve success in this profession, as is the ability to communicate well with people.

Formal training for skip tracer jobs can be attained through seminars and workshops, which are often offered through professional associations, such as the National Association of Fugitive Recovery Agents and the American Recovery Association Inc. Online seminars in skip tracing are also a popular option for skip tracers and other professionals, such as bounty hunters, debt collectors, and private investigators, who want to learn about the latest online search tools and databases.

A number of industries hire skip tracers as employees, including debt collection agencies, investigative firms, and even law enforcement agencies. However, perhaps just as many skip tracers work as independent contractors, with bounty hunters, bail bondsmen and private investigators using their services as needed.

The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics organizes skip tracers under bill and account collectors. In May 2010, the median annual salary for these professional was $31,310, with the top 10 percent earning more than $47,180 during this time.

The median annual salary for bill and account collectors in the wholesale trade in May 2010 was $34,950, while collectors in business support services earned a median annual salary of $27,310 during the same time.