How to Handle a Cyberstalker
Intervention StrategiesOperation Blue Ridge Thunder
Bedford County (Virginia) Sheriff's Office
Cyber-stalking task force featured on CBS's 48 Hours
http://www.unc.edu/~ledwell/cyberstalk/law_enforce.html#handlecyberstalkerThe following list of intervention strategies was assembled from recommendations from the Los Angeles Police Department, the US Attorney General's Office, Operation Blue Ridge Thunder, and various other investigative agencies. For more information on the agencies listed here, please see our links page.
Detective contact
A detective confronts the stalker and explains that his behavior is unacceptable and could constitute a criminal offense. This has proven
to be effective in cases where the behavior has not reached a level indicating a serious threat to the victim. It may be especially effective
in cyberstalking cases, because the perpetrator may not be aware he
was engaged in criminal activity (or that he could get caught!) One US Attorney’s Office has used this strategy successfully by having FBI agents contact people who were harassing others on-line. While not effective in all cases, this is a relatively simple first step.Restraining Orders
The most important thing to remember about restraining orders is that they are only effective when they are actually enforced. Police certainly should encourage the victim to swear out restraining orders against the stalker, but should not place too much faith in this as a solution. Remember, statistics indicate that about half of all stalkers have already violated a restraining order at least once. In addition, a restraining order can give the victim a false sense of security, leading her to neglect safety precautions.
Cyberstalking cases raise special questions about restraining orders. At least one judge has issued a restraining order against a cyberstalker over the Internet. Robert and Teresa Maynard, owners of Internet America, had been receiving emails containing threats and obscene language. The emails came from an unknown person who used a variety of aliases. The Maynards did not know his true identity or his physical location. In an innovative solution, a Dallas County, TX judge issued an online restraining order to prevent future online or real life harassment. The restraining order was emailed to the suspect and posted at the Internet newsgroups on which the harassing statements had appeared. Click here to see the online restraining order.
Involuntary Mental Health Diversions
Since many stalkers suffer from a mental health problem, this is a feasible intervention strategy is some situations. Each state sets forth its own requirements for admitting a suspect to a mental health facility, and holding times also vary between jurisdiction. Some states (California, for instance) prohibit people who have been involuntarily committed from owing firearms for a specified period of time after their release, which makes this alternative an attractive one.
Deportation
Obviously, this option can only be considered when the perpetrator is from another country. However, it is a great way to put some distance between victim and stalker!
Detention/Arrest
If a suspect is arrested for stalking, special steps need to be taken. The suspect should be monitored while he is in jail, in order to ensure that he is not continuing to harass his victim while he is in custody.
It is very important to keep the suspect in jail for a while. Do not allow him to be released the next day on his own recognizance. By keeping the suspect in jail for a few days, two benefits are gained. First, jail time has a sobering effect on some stalkers, and deters them from repeating their behavior. Secondly, keeping the suspect off the streets gives the victim a chance to implement safety precautions in preparation for his eventual release.
How to Handle a Cyberstalking Victim: Things to Remember
Anecdotal evidence indicates that cyberstalking victims who report harassment o the police are often turned away. (In one case, a police officer advised a victim to simply turn off her computer!) It is critical that law enforcement personnel remember that cyberstalking is a serious crime, with profound ramifications for the victim. When hearing a cyberstalking complaint or otherwise dealing with a victim, it is important for investigators to stay focused on the four goals of crisis intervention:
Establishment of rapport
Respect for the survivor
Active listening
Empathetic responsesHow to Handle a Cyberstalking Victim: Things to Do
The basic steps for treating a cyberstalking victim are:
Address safety
Encourage the victim to confront the stalker
Evaluate the victim's mental and physical health
Recommend resources to the victimThe LAPD’s Threat Assessment Unit offers good advice on how to implement these basic steps:
Address safety:
Explain to the victim that the stalking is probably going to be an on-going situation. Make sure that she knows how to protect herself from future threats. Suggest safety precautions such as getting a new phone number, modifying social behavior and routines, informing her friends, family, and work supervisor about the problem. In extreme cases, police should suggest the victim actually consider moving to another city and/or
changing her identity.Encourage the victim to confront the stalker:
The victim should clearly and unambiguously tell her stalker to leave her alone. The victim needs to be direct, concrete, and to the point. After the confrontation, the victim should have no contact with the stalker. Police cannot stress the importance of this too much. Contact after the confrontation will only encourage the stalker.
Evaluate the victim's mental and physical health:
Even if the victim has not been physically attacked, she should be evaluated with an eye to detecting suicidal ideation, PTSD, stress related illness, etc.
Recommend resources to the victim:
Give the victim information on how to contact community resources and support groups. Keep a list of helpful books, pamphlets, and WWW pages that victims can read. If the police department is large enough, it should sponsor self defense classes and support groups for victims of crime.
Recognizing False Claims of Stakling/Cyberstalking
Law enforcement officers need to learn to recognize false claims of stalking. This prevents agencies from wasting time and resources investigating innocent people, and allows them to focus their efforts on genuine stalking investigations.
People make false stalking claims for many reasons. Sometimes, the “victim” desires revenge on the “stalker” for some reason, and so makes him the subject of a criminal investigation in order to smear his reputation. Other times, the victim is simply seeking attention. False stalking claims have been linked to various psychological disorders, including Munchausen and Munchausen by Proxy Syndromes. Whatever the reason, false stalking claims often show three basic characteristics:
1.The victim reports multiple situations over time where she is approached by the suspect with no other witnesses
2.The behavior of the suspect begins as non criminal, but then quickly escalates to criminal activity.
3.The victim reports criminal conduct based on media reports or on the experience of a person known to her who was a stalking victim.
While it is important for police to be alert for these “red flags”, it is even more important that they do not dismiss stalking cases as false reports. A genuine stalking case may have any or all of the characteristics of false claims. Because of its new and unfamiliar nature, cyberstalking cases are particularly vulnerable to false claims, and to wrongful dismissal of genuine claims. Before a case, especially a cyberstalking case, is dismissed as a false claim, it must be carefully and thoroughly investigated to ensure that no criminal activity is actually occurring.
Anti-Cyberstalking Programs
A growing number of law enforcement agencies have established special units or programs to deal with computer related crime, including cyberstalking.
There are two basic procedures for catching cyberstalkers:
In the first, the authorities investigate a particular complaint and attempt to apprehend the suspect. This can be done using a combination of traditional detective work and online tracking. In cases where the stalker is known to the victim, or has stalked her in real life, standard investigative techniques such as interviewing witnesses and collecting forensic evidence work well. If the stalker is a stranger who has only harassed the victim online, investigators may use electronic surveillance or trace emails.
The second method of catching cyberstalkers involves preventive measures. That is, law enforcement officers attempt to arrest a subject before he can inflict any harm on a victim. In the most commonly used procedure, an officer goes online undercover, usually posing as a young girl in a chat room. If a potential stalker or pedophile expresses interest in meeting the "girl" face to face for illegal purposes, the undercover officer arranges a meeting in a public place. An undercover female officer poses as the "girl" and waits for the suspect to arrive. Other officers form a perimeter around the site. When the female officer gives a pre-arranged signal, the other officers move in to arrest the suspect.
This method of catching cyberstalkers and pedophiles is straightforward, effective, relatively inexpensive. As a result, it is being used in a number of law enforcement agencies around the country. Two of the more successful programs are the FBI's Operation Innocent Images and the Bedford County (Virginia) Sheriff's Office's Operation Blue Ridge Thunder.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation:
Operation Innocent ImagesConcerned about the rise in Internet based sexual exploitation of children, FBI Director Louis Freeh arranged for each of the Bureau's fifty-six Field Offices to have at least two Special Agents who would specialize in investigating crimes against children. Fifty-four Field Offices have since identified individuals suspected of committing such crimes.
Operation Innocent Images began as a program in the Bureau's Baltimore Field Office. Innocent Images is now a nationwide effort of the FBI's Violent Criminals & Major Offenders Program.
The FBI describes Innocent Images as a large-scale investigation designed to "identify and develop prosecutable cases on those individuals who use commercial and private Bulletin Board Systems (BBSs)
to recruit minors into illicit sexual relationships or electronically distribute pornographic images of minors,
in violation of federal law."To date, Operation Innocent Images has led to the arrest of over 250 cybercriminal.
Bedford County (Virginia) Sheriff's Office
Operation Blue Ridge Thunder