There are things that can be done in these situations that can allow a person to avoid the pitfalls associated with threats and to handle them in a logical, successful manner. One of those strategies could include using the criminal justice system to help, and I strongly believe this is an important tool when one person is threatening another. Being aware of what threats might come, and what they mean when they do allows victims and the friends and loved-ones of victims to participate more intelligently and supportively in their own defense. People living in a situation in which threats are being made should generally come forward and expect a high level of support and expertise from their police agency.
There isn’t much point to preparing for prosecution if you don’t take care of the most important aspect of the case which is, of course, making sure the person making the threats can’t follow through. Police protection is a valuable thing, indeed, though I know of very few agencies with the manpower to devote around the clock protective services in most cases. It happens in the direst circumstances, but this is rare.
I once spent part of a semester in a kindergarten classroom acting as part of a team charged with keeping a man from kidnapping a child he had previously molested. The man was out on bond, and he’d made his intentions to take the child and flee to another country very clear. I reviewed primary colors, shapes and the alphabet for days, played a lot of four-square, and felt a lot of pride when that child was still happily sitting in his classroom after the man was finally sent off to prison.
Round the clock protection is nearly impossible for most agencies in most situations. This is an unfortunate result of tight budgets leading to inadequate manpower, and the never-ending fountain of a thousand public safety and law enforcement duties to be performed each and every day. However, there are things any police agency can handle. Let’s say hypothetically that a batterer/stalker has been released from jail on a bail bond, and he’s made it clear that he has no intention of relenting in his efforts to terrorize and control his ex wife. What are some of the things that can be done to keep her safe at least until trial?
Extra Patrol
Extra patrol is exactly what it sounds like; officers are assigned to provide extra presence and surveillance of a residence or place of employment during periods when stalking is suspected. There are four objectives for this. First and foremost is to establish a clear demonstration that officers have taken the victim under their wing and that they’ll be looking out for her. It’s important that officers not establish any pattern to the patrol other than send the message, “We’re around.” Officers that entrench themselves in a regular pattern are easy for bad guys to figure out, and it doesn’t take much imagination to learn when to break into the ex girlfriend’s house at a time when the cops aren’t likely to be around.
Another objective is simply to have officers familiarize themselves with a potential trouble spot so that their response time will drop dramatically if and when a call for emergency help comes in. If you’ve ever been to a large apartment complex or residential neighborhood in which the apartment or house numbers are hidden or difficult to find on the side of a building, you know why this is important. (Pizza delivery people just nodded their heads.)
An additional objective is to offer some sense of relief and security for a stalking victim. We get numerous reports from victims that they were finally able to get a decent night’s sleep because they knew the police were patrolling their area looking out for them. Having two or three officers who routinely come to check on you, who know your case, and who have taken a genuine interest in your safety can make all the difference in the world in terms of a victim’s morale, fortitude, and anxiety level.
Finally, every once in a while the timing is right and a cop catches someone in the act while doing a routine extra patrol. A potentially serious crime is thwarted, peace and safety is restored, and the bad guy goes to the pokey. That is considered a touchdown in my business.
Civil Stand By’s
Civil stand by’s are controversial in law enforcement and not every agency does them. In short, a civil stand by involves dispatching one or two officers to provide security while a person goes back to their former residence to collect certain belongings. For example, a battery victim who has escaped a bad situation into a shelter may need to go back to the house to get her social security card or birth certificate. Maybe she needs an important legal document or a few changes of clothes. There are some things that are so important that people will risk another beating or worse just to retrieve them, and it is far better in my opinion to spend ten minutes offering a safe passage than to deal with the fallout of a brand new offense later. Call it crime prevention.
Civil stand-by’s are not about moving furniture or arguing about who keeps the plasma TV. They should be quick and clean; get what you need and get out. Yes, a person who left the house for safety reasons may never again see a cherished dresser or lie again in a comfortable bed and, frankly, officers don’t have the time to spend while estranged couples quibble over possessions. People throughout history have had to drop treasures too heavy or bulky to carry quickly while being pursued by oppressors, and it may just be that escaping a life of oppression in the home means leaving behind important, expensive items. I’m not saying it’s fair, and I would hope those issues would be resolved in a legal, equitable process, but when we’re talking about a life or lives, leaving the stereo system behind doesn’t seem like such a sacrifice after all.
Agencies that provide a civil stand-by service generally limit their officers’ on-scene time to around ten or fifteen minutes. Officers are not allowed to make decisions about property, so contested pieces must remain in the house. Officers are not allowed to assist in the moving, so they shouldn’t be asked or expected to help hoist a couch or carry a suitcase. Their job is to keep the peace, maintain everyone’s safety, eliminate false allegations, and keep the person retrieving items focused on priorities.
Alarm Systems
Alarm systems are not generally dispensed by police agencies, but most agencies have the ability to help stalking victims access free alarm systems. Unfortunately, most police agencies don’t even know they can do this. I’m loath to plug any individual company, but fair credit is due ADT Alarms, a nationwide company with a long history of providing high quality systems and monitoring*. ADT will provide an alarm system, free of charge, in homes for victims with documented stalking problems. This service is called the ADT AWARE ® Program, standing for Abused Women’s Active Response Emergency, and it has quietly been adding another layer of protection and security for victims since 1992. The victim must adhere to certain rules such as maintaining a valid order of protection and not allowing the perpetrator back into the home. The local police agency or prosecutor’s office must acknowledge that the client is a victim of violence and/or stalking, that the stalker is at large, and that the victim is cooperating or has cooperated in any applicable investigation and prosecution.
In exchange for following these simple rules, ADT outfits a residence with entry alarms, security keypad, an emergency button worn on a necklace, glass-break detection, and twenty-four hour monitoring. Free! Do you understand how valuable that can be for a person who lives in dread that the person she most fears will eventually come and break down her door? It makes a huge difference, and ADT should be proud of this community service.
I would encourage you to explore this possibility with your local police agency if you know of a person suffering the indignities of stalking. I would also encourage local police agencies or prosecutors offices to explore the AWARE ® program with an ADT official. Their website is www.adt.com, or you can locate a representative through a local ADT office.
Surveillance Systems
In the very worst stalking cases, it is sometimes helpful to install surveillance systems able to provide video evidence of trespasses, acts of intentional damage to property, residential burglaries, and actual physical attacks on the victims. The best kind of system is motion activated so that it is not recording all the time, and it is also important that the system be well hidden.
These systems are expensive, and it is infrequent that small to mid-range police and sheriff departments have one. Fortunately, quite a few narcotics squads have such a system. They use it, obviously, to track the comings and goings of dealers into suspected distribution sites, but the system is very usable in a stalking situation. The challenge is usually getting the narcotics guys to let an officer investigating a stalking complaint use the equipment and setting it up. Surveillance cameras and recorders are coveted because there aren’t enough systems to go around and buying more isn’t generally feasible.
One concept we used was to buy equipment out of some grant funds we received for the specific purpose of tracking sex offenders, especially those coming to meet police officers posing on the Internet as thirteen-year-olds. When the predators show up to what they believe is a sexual rendezvous, they are often videotaped from the moment they step out of their car using remote systems like we’ve described. It was a fairly simple matter to coordinate the sharing of such equipment in exchange for manpower assistance from the stalking unit guys when the time came to arrest the sex offenders. See…governments can think outside the box and come up with good solutions from time to time.
Enforcement
We’ll discuss the pros and cons of aggressive enforcement of protection orders and laws relating to domestic violence in another chapter. Suffice it to say for now that aggressive enforcement tends to be the most protective, helpful solution in terms of getting stalkers to mend their ways. I know that it feels like this would just tend to make them mad, but the reality is that when agencies show they are not going to dilly-dally with this type of nonsense, the nonsense tends to stop much sooner.
* I am not a spokesman for ADT, nor have I received any compensation from them for making these comments. I have simply appreciated their willingness to provide this service over the years.
No comments:
Post a Comment