I was just watching Dog the Bounty Hunter on A&E, and ive watched the show that was on HBO as well about the family of bounty hunters. Which leads to my question regarding their authority. From what I can tell they arent on the same level as a police officer, so do they have any actual authority? They all wear badges, but in the HBO show it showed them going to a store and buying them, so it seems that there is no issuing authority. Is there anyone who regulates these guys? And what if they try to arrest one of their targets and lets say he punches them in the face, it woulndt be the same as hitting a real cop would it. Ive also noticed that none of them carry guns, which would lead me to believe they definetly arent of the same capacity of a police officer. And since they dont seem to have the same authority of a cop, how can they detain people? Would there be any incentive for the people they are chasing not to just take off?