Am I at risk?
If you’re not sure if what is happening to you is stalking then
please take some time to look at the questions below:
- Are you very frightened?
- Has the person engaged in harassment before? (Involving you
and/or anyone else)
- Has the person ever destroyed or vandalised your property?
- Has the person turned up at work, home, etc more than three
times per week?
- Has the person loitered around your home, workplace etc?
- Has the person made any threats of physical or sexual
violence?
- Has the person harassed any third party since the harassment
began? (e.g friends, family, children, colleagues, partners or
neighbours)
- Has the person acted violently towards other people within the
current stalking incidents?
- Has the person persuaded other people to help him/her?
(Wittingly or unwittingly).
- Is the person known to be abusing drugs and/or alcohol?
- Is the person known to have been violent in the past? (Physical
or psychological)
If you’ve answered yes to any of the
questions above, this indicated you should take the situation, and
the person’s behaviour towards you, very seriously and
contact the police for support and advice.
If you’re frightened by someone’s behaviour towards you and feel
you’re in danger, call 999 now.
What should I do if I am a victim of harassment or
stalking?
If you feel in immediate danger at any time always call
999. Contact the Cheshire Constabulary on 101 for other
non urgent issues. Police will arrange a convenient time to meet
you and take relevant details in order to give more specific safety
advice to you. It is important that you tell the officer everything
that has happened, even if you think it may sound trivial or
alternatively you can contact the National Stalking Helpline
0300 636 0300.
How you can help yourself:
- Take a mobile telephone with you when you go out.
- Carry a personal attack alarm, try to alter your daily
routines, ask friends to accompany you whenever possible, and
always let someone know what your plans are.
- Keep a record of what happened, where, when, every time you
were followed, phoned, received post or e-mail.
- How the offender looked or sounded, what they were wearing, the
make, and number plate or colour of their car.
- Keep letters, and parcels as evidence - even if they contain
frightening or upsetting messages, do not throw them away and
handle them as little as possible.
- Keep copies of e-mails on disk and print out hard copies, do
not delete the original.
- Making notes in a diary is a good idea. Write the information
down as soon as possible, when events are still fresh in your
mind.
- Tape record telephone conversations if you can and keep the
tape.
- If you recognise the handwriting, you can keep letters or
parcels as evidence without having to open them.
- Make sure you keep any stored messages (including text
messages) or telephone numbers that you have received on your
mobile phone and caller ID units.
- Use 1471 on the phone and write down details of calls received,
including the time received, and the telephone numbers (even
unanswered calls).
- Tell your friends, neighbours and work colleagues about what is
happening.
- Try to get photographic or video evidence of your stalker
(especially if they are someone already warned by the police not to
come near you).
- Contact your telephone company to see what action they can take
against malicious callers or register with Telephone Preference
Service to be removed from direct marketing lists.
- Write down information as soon as possible when events are
still fresh in your mind.
- Print pages of evidence from social networking sites and times
messages were posted.
Avoiding unwanted calls:
- Answer the phone by saying ‘hello’, not your name or
number
- Try to keep calm and not show emotion, many callers will give
up if they don’t think they’re making an impression on you or your
feelings
- Use an answer machine to screen out calls and only talk to
people you want to
- If the caller rings again, put the handset down on a table for
a few minutes – the caller will think you’re listening. After a few
minutes replace the handset, you do not have to listen to what the
caller has to say.
- Use 1471 on the phone and write down details of calls received,
including the time received, and the telephone numbers (even
unanswered calls).
If you know or find out who is stalking you:
- Do not confront your stalker or even engage them in
conversation
- Do not, under any circumstances, agree to a meeting to talk
about how you feel about them constantly bothering you.
- Do not respond in any way to calls, letters, or conversations.
If you ignore the phone nine times and pick it up on the tenth, you
will send the message that persistence pays. Once they have your
attention, they will be encouraged to carry on.
- Seek advice from the police, a solicitor or the National
Stalking Helpline about what you should do.