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opinion editorialsThis editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by editorial page staff and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers
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Saturday, November 14, 2009
The Stalkers Everyone But the Stalkers Want
It's time consuming and labor intensive. As Albuquerque Police Sgt. Paul Szych says, "It's all about patience." In a police department with around 1,100 officers sworn to protect more than 500,000 people, those caveats might not seem all that efficient or cost-effective.
But sometimes it's more about police work that makes people feel safe and keeps them safe. APD is now one of around a dozen law enforcement agencies in the nation using a new technique in domestic violence cases. It stalks the stalkers.
So you send lots of creepy e-mails and threatening texts? Leave voice mails threatening to cut out your ex's heart or kill his kids or her co-workers? Your target isn't the only one reading or listening anymore.
Albuquerque police detectives are now using a program called Dynamic Stalking Intervention. When a stalking case is filed, detectives meet with the victim, advocates and social workers. They rate the stalker based on criminal background, history of abuse, drugs, alcohol, weapons, etc. They go over the e-mails, text messages and voice mails the suspect has left the victim. They give the stalker a "lethality level," rank the threat level and come up with a plan that can include involving the entire unit, following the suspect and the victim, and staying in the victim's home.
Maybe the threats lead to nothing and the surveillance doesn't end with a foiled attack and arrest. But maybe having APD keep tabs prevents someone from ending up burned in a shallow grave on the mesa.
APD gets around 76 domestic violence cases every week; more than half the victims in domestic-violence homicides in 2005 were stalked.
Having officers act on victims' reports instead of filing them away could cut those numbers. Taxpayers and city officials should understand police work is sometimes "all about patience" and allow this method to try to stop abuse before it turns fatal.
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