True Associates   These comments and recommendations are considered a personal security tool, and should not constitute the sole basis for significant security decisions.  That said, the comments and recommendations are generic and universal, and might be of value to those interested in stalking issues or self protection.  I am principally posting this information for those troubled by a suspected stalking matter, and don’t know where to turn.  There are resources available to help.                                                GT Nelson

Stalking: What is it? What can I do about it? · Stalking Facts · Suggested Actions · Additional Comments · Personal Opinion · Oregon Law Stalking Facts (public sources including the National Center for Victims of Crime): 1,007,000 women and 371,000 men are stalked annually in the U.S. 75% of female victims and 65% of male victims know their stalker. 90% of stalkers are men. 60% of female victims and 30% of male victims are stalked by an intimate partner. 80% of women stalked by a current or former intimate partner are ultimately physically assaulted or killed by that partner. 30% of female victims and 10% of male victims obtained a protective order (restraining order) against the stalker. The majority of those protective orders were violated by the stalker. 55% of female victims reported stalking to the police before they were killed by the stalker. 65% of stalkers pursue their victims at least once a week – many daily. Cyber-stalking is becoming an increasing problem. It is estimated that 20-40% of all stalking cases involve electronic communications. The average duration of stalking is 2 years. 90% of stalkers suffer from some sort of mental disorder. 50% of celebrities, of one degree or another, will be victims of a stalker – only 15% of these stalking victims are highly recognizable celebrities. There is an important caveat regarding the making of a threat and posing a threat. Violent acts are often carried-out without overt threats. Suggested Actions: Tell the stalker ‘no’ once and only once. Never give them the satisfaction of a reaction again. The more you respond, the more you teach him that his actions will elicit a response. Block your address at DMV and Voter Registration. Never give out your home address or telephone number. Get a PO Box and use it on all correspondence. Put this address on your checks. When a stalker gets your telephone number, don’t change it. Instead always let an answering machine pick it up. Get a new unlisted number and give it to your friends. Document everything – calls, contacts, and suspicious occurrences. Have co-workers screen all calls and visitors. Don’t accept packages unless they were personally ordered. Remove name or identification from reserved parking. Remove name from apartment listing. Get a cell phone and keep it with you at all times. If you think you are being followed while in a car, make four left or right turns in succession. If someone is following, drive to nearest police station – never home. Never be afraid to sound your horn to attract attention. Make sure living quarters have proper security measures: alarm, lighting, etc. Protect garbage; make sure all documents are shredded. Consider moving – if your situation warrants. Consider contacting the police and apprising them of the situation. Depending upon circumstances, consider obtaining a Temporary Restraining Order. Realize that danger to you also applies to your friends and family – apprise them of the situation. Get a dog. One of the least expensive, but best alarm systems. Consider getting a concealed weapons permit. Get some training with a gun until you’re comfortable with it and understand all safety considerations. Additional Comments: Every state in the U.S. has enacted anti-stalking laws. Additionally, on the federal level, ‘The Interstate Stalking Act’ was enacted in 1996 making it a federal crime for a person to travel across state lines to injure or harass another person. ‘The Communications Act’ of 1996 makes it a federal crime to place obscene of harassing telephone calls within the U.S. Another federal statute makes it a federal crime to transmit in interstate or foreign commerce any communication containing a threat to kidnap or injure another person. For general background information and to get a feeling for what victims of stalking experience, I suggest you pick up and read this informative book on stalking: I Know You Really Love Me, “A Psychiatrist’s Account of Stalking and Obsessive Love,” by Doreen Orion, M.D.

Personal Opinion: In this very public forum, I’m somewhat reluctant to offer my personal beliefs on a subject like this. However, it is my opinion, based on my professional experience, that the victims of stalking, at least initially, can expect little assistance from law enforcement. Restraining orders can somewhat formalize a stalking issue, but give no real protective benefit to the victim, nor do they tend to intimidate the determined stalker. And, in fact, a RO can and often does antagonize a stalker and incite increased violence. Restraining Orders are literally paper shields of little value. Law enforcement can play a role in deterring or arresting a stalker, but only after they (law enforcement) have received tangible evidence that there has been a crime committed – suspicions are often not enough. Here is where I recommend that the victim of perceived stalking confer with an attorney or a reputable security consultant, or both. Security and safety of the victim is paramount. This is the first priority. This is followed closely by documentation and presentation – including liaison with the law enforcement community. Documentation may include victim statements, witness statements, recordings, independent observation or surveillance, background investigation of the stalker and other inquiry deemed appropriate for the particular circumstance. Presentation includes bringing all these factors together, and making a compelling prima facie case to the police or to the District Attorney – ultimately securing their cooperation and assistance. True Nelson

The following is a truncated summary of Oregon Law regarding the subject of ‘stalking.’ For more detailed information on the statute, as well as any legal recourse that may be available to a victim, please refer to the entire statute/s, which are available for review at a public library or on the internet. Stalking Legislation: Oregon 163.730 Definitions for ORS 30.866 and 163.730 to 163.750. As used in ORS 30.866 and 163.730 to 163.750, unless the context requires otherwise: (1) "Alarm" means to cause apprehension or fear resulting from the perception of danger. (2) "Coerce" means to restrain, compel or dominate by force or threat. (3) "Contact" includes but is not limited to: (a) Coming into the visual or physical presence of the other person; (b) Following the other person; (c) Waiting outside the home, property, place of work or school of the other person or of a member of that person's family or household; (d) Sending or making written communications in any form to the other person; (e) Speaking with the other person by any means; (f) Communicating with the other person through a third person; (g) Committing a crime against the other person; (h) Communicating with a third person who has some relationship to the other person with the intent of affecting the third person's relationship with the other person; (i) Communicating with business entities with the intent of affecting some right or interest of the other person; (j) Damaging the other person's home, property, place of work or school; or (k) Delivering directly or through a third person any object to the home, property, place of work or school of the other person. (4) "Household member" means any person residing in the same residence as the victim. (5) "Immediate family" means father, mother, child, sibling, parent, spouse, grandparent, stepparent and stepchild. (6) "Law enforcement officer" means any person employed in this state as a police officer by a county sheriff, constable, marshal or municipal or state police agency. (7) "Repeated" means two or more times. (8) "School" means a public or private institution of learning or a child care facility. 163.732 Stalking. (1) A person commits the crime of stalking if: (a) The person knowingly alarms or coerces another person or a member of that person's immediate family or household by engaging in repeated and unwanted contact with the other person; (b) It is objectively reasonable for a person in the victim's situation to have been alarmed or coerced by the contact; and (c) The repeated and unwanted contact causes the victim reasonable apprehension regarding the personal safety of the victim or a member of the victim's immediate family or household. (2) (a) Stalking is a Class A misdemeanor. (b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a) of this subsection, stalking is a Class C felony if the person has a prior conviction for: (A) Stalking; or (B) Violating a court's stalking protective order. (C) When stalking is a Class C felony pursuant to paragraph (b) of this subsection, stalking shall be classified as a person felony and as crime category 8 of the sentencing guidelines grid of the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission.