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Training addresses stalking: the crime, the victims and the offenders

By Susy Kelly skelly@heraldstandard.Com 4 min read

Speaking to an audience of crime victim advocates and law enforcement personnel, a training specialist from the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence presented information about the crime of stalking at Fayette County Drug Task Force headquarters on Friday.

Lois Fasnacht explained that stalking occurs when a person is fearful from being repeatedly followed or contacted through a variety of means by a stranger or by an intimate partner.

“Studies generally concur that intimate stalkers are the most dangerous of all stalkers,” Fasnacht told the audience.

“If there’s physical abuse and stalking, that becomes more lethal than either behavior alone,” she added.

Fasnacht said the relationship between an intimate stalker and his or her victim gives the offender more access to the details of the victim’s life, and, therefore, more control.

“In many cases, the offender has been stalking the victim in the relationship,” said Fasnacht.

The stalker can also control the victim in an intimate relationship by threatening to harm the children or other family members.

According to Fasnacht, the use of private investigators has been on the rise among stalkers because it’s a sly way to avoid criminal charges. “It’s hard to prove the private investigator is stalking, because they’re allowed to do it,” Fasnacht said.

As a victim advocate, Fasnacht offered advice and tips to law enforcement about how to interview victims in stalking cases.

People who are under that type of surveillance, who live under constant fear from their stalkers, are hypervigilant, said Fasnacht. They sense subtle differences in their surroundings and detect the presence or recent presence of their stalkers, Fasnacht explained. She told investigators,”If [victims] tell you he was there, believe them. Believe them. They know.”

Addressing the frustration Fasnacht said she has observed among police who intervene in an intimate stalking scenario, only to see the victim out at a restaurant with the stalker the next day, she said, “She is trying to appease the stalker.”

“It doesn’t mean she wants to be there. It doesn’t mean she’s not afraid.” She said the victim maintains some sense of control by choosing to be with the stalker and therefore knowing what the stalker is up to.

Fasnacht suggested that police who advise victims to stop having contact with the stalker altogether should get those victims immediately to a domestic violence or crime victims center to devise a safety plan.

“Whatever is occurring in his life is affecting her life,” said Fasnacht. “Not having any contact may send him to a ‘different place.'”

She emphasized recognizing that some victims have been traumatized by the crime and that trauma is subjective. “You may not think it’s a big deal, but it’s a big deal to her.”‘

Making the victim feel safe during the interview is important, Fasnacht said, as is collecting as many details as possible for evidence. She suggested being just as detailed about evidence collection when interviewing the suspects, as well, because successfully prosecuting the case in court can hinge on having enough evidence.

Another aspect of Fasnacht’s presentation dealt with the use of technology in stalking and all the avenues that have opened for stalkers by way of cellphones and the Internet.

From spyware programs that allow the stalker to track every movement, conversation and text message through the victim’s phone to hidden cameras to keystroke logging and email tracing, stalkers have an ever-broadening set of tools to invade their victims’ privacy, Fasnacht said.

Sometimes stalkers use programs or services that otherwise have legitimate purposes, she said, such as social networking sites, family locators available with multi-user mobile phone plans, nanny-cams for spying on babysitters, and home security systems.

But Fasnacht said some of those strategies can be used for the victim to gather evidence of her own, such as home security footage that might show the stalker repeatedly driving by the house.

“One thing we’re saying to victims is: ‘Turn the tables around,'” Fasnacht said. “Turn the tables on the stalker. Let’s watch him.”

The presentation was sponsored by the Fayette County STOP (Services, Training, Officers, Prosecutors) Violence Against Women Coordinating Team.

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