Stalking

Facts on Stalking - Criminal Harassment:

More than 1 in 10 women (15 years of age and over) have been victims of stalking in Canada.
Obscene phone calls is the most frequently reported form of stalking for female victims.
Most stalking victims know their stalker.
Over one third of stalking victims reported stalking to police.
1 in 10 stalking victims sought out a protective order against the stalker - of which almost one half were violated.

Female victims stalked by a former intimate partner experienced more physical violence relative to victims pursued by a stranger or acquaintance.

Types of stalkers*

Simple Obsessional: The majority of these stalkers have been in some form of relationship with the victim. The contact may have been minimal, such as a blind date, but more commonly is a prolonged dating relationship, common law union or marriage. The perpetrator refuses to recognize that the relationship with the other person is over and the prevailing attitude is “if I can’t have her (or him) then no one else will.” A campaign of harassment, intimidation and psychological terror is mounted. The motivation for the harassment and stalking varies from revenge to the false belief that they can convince or coerce the victim back into the relationship.

Erotomanic: Is convinced that the object of his or her attention, usually of the opposite sex, fervently loves him or her and would return the affection if it were not for some external influence. The person about whom this conviction is held is usually of a higher status than the stalker but is often not a celebrity. It could be a supervisor at work, their child’s paediatrician, their church minister or the police officer who stopped them for a traffic violation but did not charge them. Sometimes it can be a complete stranger.

Love Obsessional: The stalker can be obsessed in his or her “love” without possessing the belief that the victim loves him or her. Very often the love obsessed stalker suffers from a major psychiatric illness such as schizophrenia or mania and wants to “win over” the love of his or her victim.

Sexually Motivated: Another recognized but not well studied group of stalkers are those who stalk as a component to their paraphiliac (sexually deviant) focus. Some rapists and pedophiles have stalked because it is incorporated in their sexually deviant fantasies. Some sexual sadist will go through “behavioural try-outs” that will include stalking.

*Source: Federal Provincial-Territorial Working Group on Criminal Harassment. “A Handbook for Police and Crown Prosecutors on Criminal Harassment,” 1999, Ottawa, Dept. of Justice Canada.

What is stalking?

Stalking is criminal harassment, according to Section 264 of the Criminal Code of Canada. This section makes it illegal for a person to do any of the following things that cause you to reasonably fear for your safety or the safety of anyone you know:

repeatedly follow you, or anyone you know, from place to place
repeatedly communicate with you, or anyone you know, directly or indirectly
repeatedly watch you, or anyone you know, or your home, workplace, or any other place you happen to be
engage in any threatening conduct directed at you or a member of your family.

The new law now protects you even if the conduct of the stalker is not done with the intent to scare you. It is enough if it does scare you.

A person can be stalking even if they don’t physically hurt anyone or damage any property. The law is designed to protect psychological, emotional, and physical safety.

Stalking may start with conduct that seems more annoying than dangerous. Often, the conduct is legal and even socially acceptable, if it’s just an isolated incident. But when it’s repeated, it may cause fear in the victim. Conduct such as following someone, or sending gifts or letters, may become intimidating if done continually and against someone’s wishes.

Once a person knows that their conduct is not welcome, if they continue, their conduct may be criminal harassment and may result in a criminal conviction.

Are you or someone you know being STALKED?

Are you afraid for your safety or the safety of someone known to you because of the words or actions of another person?

Is someone repeatedly following you or someone known to you from place to place? Repeatedly is more that one time and does not have to be for an extended period of time. The incidents may have occurred during the same day.
Is someone repeatedly communicating with you, either directly or indirectly?
Directly can be by telephone, in person, leaving messages on answering machines, or sending unwanted gifts, notes, letters or e-mails.
Indirectly can be by contacting people you know and having messages sent through them or simply by making repeated unwanted inquiries about you.
Is someone persistently close by or watching your home or any place where you or anyone known to you live, works, carries on business or happens to be?
Have you or any member of your family been threatened by this person?

If you can answer YES to any of these questions you or someone you know may be a victim of CRIMINAL HARASSMENT - STALKING

What can you do if someone is stalking or harassing you?

If you are being harassed or stalked, call the police, Get the report on record - it's important.

Write down details of every incident, including time, date, place, who was involved, and what was said and done. Keep letters, notes, answering machine messages, and harassing emails. Keep them, they are evidence.

If you get a harassing phone call on a land line, dial *57 immediately when the call ends. The phone company’s computer will make a record of the phone number that the call came from, which the police will be able to get. If you receive harassing calls on your cell phone, ask your phone company for help keeping records of the calls.

At some time, you will have to involve the police with the evidence, and the Crown Counsel. Crown Counsel (the prosecutor) makes the case against (or prosecutes) a person charged with criminal harassment. The prosecutor may proceed by indictment for serious cases, and then the maximum penalty is 10 years in jail. Or the prosecutor may proceed by summary conviction for less serious cases, and then the maximum penalty is either a fine or 6 months in jail, or both. If a court finds a person guilty, it will probably order other conditions too. For example, a court will normally order a person convicted of criminal harassment to have no contact with you directly or indirectly, to stay away from your home and workplace, and to not own or carry any weapons. A court may also order a convicted person to take counselling, if it might help.

What We Can Do to Help You

If you are reading this, then it is obvious you have concerns as to your personal safety or your quality of life. You may have been to the police to find that although sympathetic to your fears, they are unable to do a dedicated investigation ... they just do not have the manpower or technical resources.

As an expert technician, licensed in the field of Countermeasures, and experienced in the area of Security Consulting, I will:

Determine that your environment is free from invasive devices designed to attack your privacy.
Use my knowledge to provide you with safe and secure surroundings.

As an experienced and licensed Private Investigator (17 years working surveillance with ICBC and WCB), I will instruct you in the art of Counter Surveillance.

I will teach you how to spot when you are being followed, and how to evade pursuit.
Determine routes and practices that are safe.

As a former Law Enforcement Officer, I will:

Correlate and organize your evidence for presentation to Crown Counsel
Gather and document new evidence
Assist in and offer evidence in any Court Proceedings on your behalf.

Simply put, I will help you get your life back.