Crime Stoppers of Puget Sound: Jim Fuda On Stopping Stalkers

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hey, welcome to the public Affairshow of your favorite iHeartRadio station right in
Seattle. I'm your host, LeeCallahan. And not to press the panic
button, but to state the obvious. There are things we can all do
to prevent bad stuff from happening,to stay much safer, and to help
other people around us. So onthe phone with me, glad to have

(00:21):
back Jim Feuda. He's the presidentof Crime Stopper's Puget Sound. Hey Jim,
thanks for having me. I alwayslook forward to talking to you.
Oh good, me too. Sowe have talked about how to stop human
trafficking, what to do in anactive shooter situation, and now we're talking

(00:43):
about stalking, and I'm like,really, is it that big of a
problem for normal folks? So Iguess my first question is and by normal,
I met not movie stars. SoI guess what my first question is.
How prevalent is this? Well?I think, especially now with social

(01:03):
media up and people not protecting theirsecurity their filters, is that it can
get worse. You know, there'stwo definitions for for stalking, and one
of it is where two people gofor a long romantic walk together only one
of them knows about it, butthe other one is obviously defined and there's

(01:23):
a fine line with it is becausethis is a willful and repeated watching and
haesting, So it's not like justone act like normal crimes. So it
can be very subtle in the beginningand not and you guys, and the
person not even realize that they're beingsought out, so to speak. Oh,

(01:46):
I know, so let's talk aboutthose telltale signs of maybe how getting
a stalker evolved. Yeah, there'sthere's there's there's types of stalking behavior go
with fall following you or showing upwherever you might be, whether they contact
you or not, sending persistent unwantedgifts, letters, notes, and nails,

(02:07):
those kinds of things, or thenit gets into the kind of damaging
your home, car or property,monitoring your phone, computer, and then
like say using technology but GPS trackersand things on your phone. And you
know, we I've given a presentationto the uh uh the SAG Screen Actors

(02:28):
Guild here for you know, umuh. TV news reporters are in that
union, and and you know,it's surprisingly how much it happens to them.
Yeah, you know, they're they'reas all the time, and you
know they get these gifts and thingsthat show up to the station cards.
That is totally unwanted. Well,I understand that, and not to dismiss

(02:52):
that happening to you know, localpeople on the air. Is it happening
to everyday citizens? Sure? Imean whether it be a jilted lover xpouse
or uh you know the type thatuh soccer said they don't have any romantic
interesting it's more of a possession oror to the owner contolt kind of thing.

(03:16):
So it does happen to people,and oftentimes unknowingly to them. Let's
talk about what to do when westart to get nervous that we're seeing the
same person at different events. AndI'm talking like one night it could be
that you go to record store andthe next night, oh there, what

(03:38):
that's weird, they're at the movietheater. How do you think this person
finds these everyday citizens? And Iwell, I think a lot of it
too is is the social media?You know people U And I'll give you
an example. I just came backfrom Egypt that I posted pictures of myself

(03:58):
and my family in Egypt. Butsomebody, let's say, if a female
has someone she doesn't know, that'sa kind of a secret admirer that doesn't
have boundaries and and uh follows hersocial post Yale, You're gonna go see
this movie with my friends tomorrow nightor whatever and then go and behold,
uh you know, the person showsup and it can start out very subtle.

(04:23):
Yeah. So, Uh, Ithink that that's a that's a key
if you if you feel like that'suh, that's happening to you, there's
uh you need to make yourself veryclear once you figure it out that um
uh, it can escalate. Uh. Like I said, it starts out

(04:43):
subtle. It may seem harmless.Uh, and you may not have any
real heart and evidence. It mayseem like just a coincident. Oh no,
that can't be happening, when infact it truly is. So do
you think Jim and everybody from crimeStoppers, Puget down, President Jim feud
it Jim, do you think agood thing would be like to post stuff

(05:05):
after the fact where you are onsocial and maybe not check in and say
I'm I'm here right now exactly?It like uh, shown a picture of
your food and it said posted eightminutes ago. Kind of thing. You
know that that so they they wouldknow where the uh you know the person

(05:25):
is at that moment. Sure.Okay, so back to the stats.
One in six women and one innineteen men will become victims of stocking at
some point in their lives. What. Um, Yeah, that's a that's
a that's a sad reality. Whetherthat be like I said it, an
x or um or someone that's happywith them from work, uh might want

(05:49):
to wish them harm or or umor even the person that that that doesn't
know know them. I mean,there's a your stats out there too.
When we talk about internet crimes againstchildren, one in twenty five women will
be will be approached for sex onthe Internet by someone that they don't know.

(06:13):
Yeah, that comes from the centerfrom UH Exploited and Missing Children out
of DC. All right. Anotherone about current or former husbands or partners.
One of women who are stocked bya current or former partner or a
husband, we're also physically assaulted bythat partner. Okay, So you know,

(06:38):
we aren't trying to freak everybody out, but we just want to tell
people how to stay safe. Soif you've got to be aware and know
that that this can happen and there'syou know, there's obviously ways you can
you can protect yourself. Yes,let's get into that. Let's talk about
how to protect ourselves. Who toget in touch with, what to tell

(06:58):
our friends? Where do we wellto start? Yea, to start,
I mean the farm is And ifyou immediately uh, because there's hard there's
there's it's hard to get evidence forthese kinds of things because they a lot
of them seem so so coincidental.And if you want to try to get
yourself a restraining order, So initially, once you figure this out, the

(07:19):
person needs to send a clear message. You're not asking them, You're telling
them, lead me alone, anddon't get drawn into long conversations with these
people. Be short, be brief, and and that's it. And once
you have you can document these thesekinds of things, you have more evidence

(07:40):
that you can bring to for it'seasier to get a restrave order against this
person. Absolutely, they are latein the game. Things have really escalated,
is it nine one one? Absolutely, But like I said, as
it's later in the game, makesure you have you have some hum you've
got kind of a chronicleogical log ofthings that have happened for you Okay,

(08:05):
personal protection devices. What are yourthoughts on those such as may may m'm
I'm not a fan of of neverhave been of um citizens uh that aren't
comfortable and aren't trained carrying firearms.I just I just never have been and
and uh and and don't think that'sthat's the answer. But but it's little

(08:28):
things like, uh, you know, for around your house. Uh,
these home security systems are inexpensive.You can go to Costco and get an
r low that alerts you to yourphone if someone's lurking around your house and
I know there's a guy doing something. Uh, there's a woman down in
my area that is having someone comein and this guy was recently arrested that

(08:54):
because she did have a camera system. And you know, and look out
for your children, children, alertto school and childcare workers. Um,
and teach your children how to callnine to eleven. You know, these
are tell other people. Uh,look, I've got somebody that's following stalking
me and I and uh if Icall me, be aware or don't go

(09:16):
anywhere alone, don't don't go outfor your long walks at night by yourself.
You know, and you got tomake your secure security a priority let's
get back to sending a clear message. Uh, you to tell them in
no uncertain terms, you leave mealone. Um. And it's not please
stop following, it's you stop followingme. And you're telling them to leave

(09:41):
you alone, and that you aregoing to call the police if you see
him around you again. Yeah,and don't chat with them, don't let
them gaslight you, don't let themget into some conversation and have them ask
you questions. Just say you're outof here or I'm calling nine one one.
Sure, the less the US informationyou share with with someone like that

(10:01):
is, uh, is the better? Yeah, and then document Also the
other part is that is that wewe wanted to talk about, is that
UH study say that about seventy fivepercent of victims know their stalk or in
some way. But it isn't alwaysa stereotypical jewelted lover or jealous spouse uh
so um uh and some like Imentioned before, have no romantic interest.

(10:26):
It's just like a possession. Youremember the Jolie Foster story. Uh and
some of these other people that thathave have been stalked by uh by uh
mentally ill people. So uh thatyou know the voices tell the person that
that we're supposed to be belonged together. Uh and and uh uh you're you're

(10:50):
going to have to take your precautionsto uh uh uh you know, to
keep these people away from ran outof your life. Yeah. Absolutely.
Hey, Jim Feuded, let's talkabout Crime Stoppers, a little bit nonprofit
organization helping law enforcement. How dowe help crime stoppers help law enforcement?
Uh? Well, it comes downto that slogan. If you see something,

(11:11):
say something and we and you cando it anonymously. We have a
tip app P three Tips. Youcan download to your smartphone and you can
put in all the information you knowabout a suspect of crime, whatever it
might be, and you can addphotos, video, or audio to it.
Once you hit submit, all weknow you buy is a Nu Miracle

(11:35):
identifier and we don't know who youare or where you're where you're texting from.
Um, and we will filter thatinformation down to the investigating agency and
most often down to the investigating detective. So it's it's just a no brainer.
And uh, if your tip leadsto an arrest in the charge of
somebody, there's a monetary rewarding forit. We pay a thousand dollars for

(12:01):
homicides and bank robberies, and thenthere's a scale of other crimes that factor
into let's say, for a burglaryor insalt or or something like that.
But it's it's substantial, and thewebsite crimestoppers dot com perfect. Jim Feuta,
I appreciate all of this input youhave for keeping us safe right here

(12:24):
in the Great Northwest. I appreciateyou. Thanks so much.