Being stalked isn’t as rare of an occurrence as you might think. The National Center for Victims of Crime statistics show that over 8 million women and 2 million men will be stalked at some point in their lifetime. In a given year, an average of 1 million women and 400,000 men are victims of stalking.
What is Stalking?
Before digging in too deep, it’s helpful to have a context for what stalking is. Stalking is giving another person unwanted attention, either by following them or monitoring them electronically, in a way that makes them feel threatened or afraid. Stalking often starts with or coincides with harassment of the victim. And stalking isn’t just following someone in person, virtual stalking is the most popular form of stalking. Stalkers follow their victim’s whereabouts through check-ins on social media, follow their online activities and can even show up in places where the victim has been tagged in a social media post.
How a PI Can Help
Unfortunately, many police departments are overwhelmed dealing with other types of crime and the opioid epidemic and aren’t able to thoroughly investigate or provide necessary assistance to stalking victims. If the police don’t take the stalking complaint seriously or don’t have the resources to devote to the case, a PI can help. A PI can help a stalking victim in a number of ways, including:
- Find the location(s) from where the stalker typically monitors the victim
- Use various means of electronic monitoring to track the stalker’s activities online
- Help identify the stalker, if their identity is unknown to the victim
- Contact the stalker on behalf of the victim to request they cease and desist their activities
- Take careful notes, collect evidence, take photos or video and help build up a body of evidence against the stalker
- Gather evidence and present to police to show seriousness of the stalking case to get law enforcement involved
Protecting Yourself From Stalkers
Being stalked can leave a victim feeling helpless and alone, however, there are ways you can help protect yourself. Follow these tips to increase your safety:
- Install a home security system – include video cameras and a smart video doorbell, if at all possible
- Tell people – stalkers count on victims to stay silent out of fear or embarrassment so, tell people you can trust such as friends, co-workers, family and neighbors so they can be on the lookout as well
- Don’t go it alone – the adage of safety in numbers is true so, avoid going out alone whenever possible
- Change your schedule or routine – stalkers rely on a predictable schedule or routine in many cases so, change up whenever you can–even if only by a few minutes
- Always stay alert when out in public and pay attention to anyone acting suspicious – trust your intuition
- Never post your location on social media via check-ins and don’t allow others to tag you in their posts
- Take stalking seriously – many stalkers start out with harmless gestures and can quickly escalate into a dangerous threat
If you believe you are being stalked and need help, call Bulldog PI. We have the resources to verify if you are being stalked and by whom. We can gather the evidence you need to be taken seriously by law enforcement and help you protect yourself.
