ESCANABA, Mich. (WZMQ) – January is nationally recognized as Stalking Awareness Month. WZMQ 19 sat down with the Escanaba Public Safety Department and Tri-County Safe Harbor to learn how stalking occurs and what victims should know.
“Stalking is everywhere,” said Liz Reed, Executive Director of Tri-County Safe Harbor. “Anyone can be stalked. Anyone can be a stalker. It is a willful act where someone harasses you endlessly.”
To be legally defined as stalking, a person’s actions have to meet certain criteria.
“The person has to feel terrorized, frightened, intimidated, threatened, harassed, or molested, and that action had to cause them to also feel that way,” explained Escanaba Public Safety Detective Lieutenant Tabitha Turnacliff. “It can involve repeated behavior, unwanted contact, and with that, it has to be two or more unwanted contacts. It can’t be somebody just calling on the phone. With time, we could maybe build a case on that, but we can’t just have it being calling. It has to be some action behind that—maybe they drove by or they did something further.”
Another hurdle for victims is that the look of stalking has changed over the years.
“Statistics show that the majority of us know who our stalker is,” Reed said, “but with technology, sometimes it’s challenging.”
“I’d say a majority of ours that we deal with are all electronic,” said Escanaba Public Safety Captain Austin Young. “A lot of that is through texting or social media. There’s a lot of apps that you can create different numbers, so that has been a big speed bump in our investigations.”
According to Reed, stalking causes victims to experience intense fear and hypervigilance. Thankfully, Tri-County Safe Harbor is here to help victims in Delta, Schoolcraft, and Menominee Counties.
“We can help with personal protection orders, and we have 24/7 services,” Reed said. “Our helpline number is 906-789-1166, or they can contact their local domestic violence shelter in their community.”
For law enforcement, one of the most helpful things someone with a stalker can do is to document everything.
“Keep a notebook with things that have happened, keep conversations, do screenshots so that we have those that we can reference back to,” Turnacliff said. “If somebody is continuing that harassment after a personal protection order has been obtained, that actually enhances the charges on our end and can make it aggravated stalking, which puts it in the felony level, where a regular stalking case is just a misdemeanor.”
“Document the time, the date, the location,” said Reed. “Get the license plate, the model, the vehicle. All that stuff can help law enforcement.”
Another recommendation is to establish clear boundaries with a stalker. Turnacliff says it is also important that the victim sticks to those boundaries.
“Always be clear with them,” she said. “Tell them to stop, that you do not want contact, and don’t continue that contact yourself. People want to respond back when somebody is saying something they don’t like. The harder response is no response at all and to let us, as in law enforcement, handle that part of it.”
Finally, anyone who has a stalker is urged to act quickly.
“A lot of times, this progresses to something worse,” said Turnacliff. “We want to hit it at that level before it progresses to something heavier, like an assault. If you’re having a problem with somebody, reach out to law enforcement. We’ll explain to you what it is, what steps we can take, or what steps that they can take to try to stop that from happening.”
Young added, “Even if you’re unsure if it’s actually stalking or harassing, call and document it.”
Stalking victims can call Tri-County Safe Harbor’s helpline at 906-789-1166 or visit safe3c.com for information on how the nonprofit can be of assistance. Tri-County Safe Harbor has also been sharing educational resources on its Facebook page. Escanaba Public Safety can be reached at 906-786-5911. Additional stalking resources, including an incident documentation log, can be found at stalkingawareness.org.
As a nonprofit, Tri-County Safe Harbor holds community events throughout the year to raise funds. On February 20 at 7 p.m., First Presbyterian Church in Escanaba will host a free concert with singer-songwriter Phil Lynch. A free-will offering will be collected to support Tri-County Safe Harbor. On April 25, the nonprofit will host a “Flannel for a Cause” fundraiser at The Island Resort and Casino from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tri-County Safe Harbor’s annual golf fundraiser will be held on July 9.
For future updates on these and other events, follow the Tri-County Safe Harbor Facebook page.
