Reference no: EM133800263

Question

Anytime that someone believes that they are being stalked, especially someone coming to you for help, it needs to be taken extremely seriously. Whether the supposed stalker is stalking that individual or not, you could be their only help at the time. Stalkers can become violent and even deadly to their intended victim. These cases can sometimes be hard to prove in a court of law or even to police officers, so the more evidence that one is able to obtain, the better chances they have of not only getting their stalker apprehended, but also their safety. These cases need evidence on top of evidence to help prove the stalker is stalking. Documentation of everything is key and necessary. "One of the elements of the law is that there must be a continuing course of conduct. And the definition of the continuing course of conduct is two or more acts which demonstrate a purpose. It's meant to put fear in the life of the victim to the point to where the victim is going to comply with the perpetrator" (Gabbard, 2015).

If someone approached me claiming that she is being stalked by her ex-partner, I would have good and helpful advice to give her to assist law enforcement in prosecuting the case. First, I would ask her what is going on. I would offer her any immediate help that would be deemed necessary at the time to keep her safe, and then I would start explaining everything that she must do to help build her case for the police and the court. One of those things would be to document everything that she believes is any type of stalking by her ex-partner. Even if she is questioning it, keep track of every instance. "Document, document, document. I don't care if you don't know that this person is the one that left the newspaper on the front porch, write that down. You go outside and your tires are slashed. We don't know who slashed your tires. I don't care, write it down" (Burkhart, 2015). Then I would tell her to keep track of any phone call, voicemail, text message, email, letter, threat, any type of communication he tries to have with her. Some of that will be able to be pulled in a court of law with a subpoena but showing that she is keeping track of everything can also help her build her case to the justice system. There are also security systems that can capture videos and images of instances. If she can, she could install one or have one installed, and when she is in public, most stores and companies have their own security systems. This could be helpful if her ex-partner tries to do something out in public to her. "If there are other witnesses around, make sure that you get their information so that you can have them as witnesses later if we need them, so that it's not just your story versus his story (Jernigan, 2015). Unfortunately, officers are not able to be at our side 24/7, which is why the more evidence we have and document, the easier it will be for them to apprehend the stalker.

At what point would you suggest the stalking victim contact police?

What might the ramifications be if no action is taking regarding this potential stalking?