By KRISTIN TENNEY
kristin@du2.byu.edu
Stalking is a common crime that terrorizes victims, but there are ways to maximize safety and stop the harassment.
Valentine's Day should be about love and romance, however, some students complain they are being watched, followed and even threatened by other students.
'I'm getting really sick of this girl who keeps sending me notes and coming to my house,' said junior Joshua Tenney, a 22-year-old family science major from Highland. 'I don't even really know her, but she seems to be every where I go.'
Stalking is a criminal behavior, and the difference between actual stalking and simple obsession is that stalking involves threats or an intent to cause fear for one's safety.
The National Center for Victims of Crime defines stalking as unwanted contact which directly or indirectly communicates a threat or places a victim in fear for their safety.
Due to the advent of blockbuster films such as 'Fatal Attraction', 'Cape Fear' and 'Sleeping with the Enemy', stalking has become a familiar subject in the media.
High profile celebrity cases like the woman who has stalked David Letterman for five years claiming she is his wife and the man who shot and killed Rebecca Schaffer have received world-wide attention.
Stalking has been around for a long time, but it wasn't until recently that victims received legal protection.
In 1990 California became the first state to pass a law which specifically made stalking a crime.
The law was passed in response to several cases in which the perpetrator stalked and eventually killed their victim. In each case, the victim had notified the police of the threatening behavior but the police had done nothing.
The fear of police not doing anything is a major reason why many victims do not report the problem.
'I was afraid to call the police,' said Rees Wiscombe, a 27-year-old from Lehi who was stalked by a co-worker who called himself Caesar.
'I didn't think they would take me seriously and I knew it would make Caesar even more hostile if he found out that I contacted the police.'
There is no empirical data available to show how common stalking cases are in the United States, but the National Center for Victims of Crime estimates that more than 200,000 Americans are currently being stalked.
In 1994 the U.S. Congress passed a Crime Bill which mandated the tracking of stalking crime statistics to help experts determine how common it is.
A questionnaire which was distributed to a sample of 294 undergraduates at West Virginia University in 1995 and reported in the Journal of Forensic Science showed that 47% of stalkers were men who seriously dated their victims. Friends of the victim constituted 19% of assailants, strangers were 18% with casual dates resulting in 16%.
Most stalking cases involve men stalking women and most stalkers are young to middle-aged with above-average intelligence.
The same study examined the difference between male and female victim coping strategies.
Female students who were stalked usually tried to ignore or avoid the stalker.
Male students almost always confronted the stalker personally or had someone else do it for them.
Before notifying the police, victims are advised to tell the stalker either personally or through a lawyer to stop the harassment.
All written material like letters or notes from the stalker should be saved to help prove the offense.
'In Utah, stalking is only a misdemeanor,' said Utah County Deputy Sheriff Richard Healey. 'It doesn't have a lot of teeth in it, but the beauty is that if you can convince a judge that you are being stalked he can order an ex-parte protective order that can result in an arrest.' The national Institute of Justice advises victims to maximize their safety by doing the following:
- Obtain a post office box.
- Inform professional organizations that they are to provide no one with information about you.
- Call the Social Security Office and request that your Social Security number be changed.
- Post a 'NO TRESPASSING' sign on your property where it is visible.
- Report threatening calls to the telephone company.
- Report to the FBI all threats sent by mail.