A long time ago before *69 one of my friends had harassing phone calls so she called Bell and the rumour at that time was that they will eventually do something about it if you tell them. I don’t know if they still do that though and I don’t even remember what it was they did. I would call the phone company though.
Since we don’t know what the local laws allow, or what the local police usually do in such situations, the only answer that makes any sense is-go to the police and find out.
Czarcasm: Seeing as how I live in a major metropolitan city, I would reckon the laws are quite standard across North American on issues such as this.
Nevertheless, you are right in as far as I have nothing to lose by talking to the police and seeing what they can do for us…except that perhaps by making inquiries on the smdb first, I could perhaps educate myself as to the best type of statements to make to the police (aside from honeste ones, of course) or general advice as to how to deal with them.
Ontario has “criminal harassment” laws (introduced in the Criminal Code in 1993, it was created mainly as a response to violence against women).
Call the cops, I think they have something like a “threat assessment unit” or something… some kind of department that does risk assessments when it comes to stalker behavior. Both the OPP and Toronto Police Services have this kind of unit. You have to informed them that you are being harassed be s disturbed individual and ask for a risk assessment (they’ll look the guy in to see if he’s got prior convictions for assault etc.)
Since he thoughtfully left a message on your answering machine (pefectly legal because he knowingly chose to do so), the police have something they can refer to.
Call the cops. A peace bond may not be a bad idea either.
My family has talked to the cops, long story short: cops don’t care at this point. Threats have been very vague, and while its racially motivated, there hasn’t been sufficient grounds to launch an investigation.
Change your phone number.
That phonecall is definately out of order. I got the he’s trying to rile me up-vibe at the word ‘appreciate’, and it just gets worse after that. I agree that you need to do something about it.
It’s likely that the police will suggest you take it to your phone company first, so you best start out contacting customer support. I can’t speak for Canada, but in the Netherlands there’s an agreement among phone-providers that such a thing is counted as harassment if you report times and dates of at least three such phonecalls that took place within a period of three weeks (and ofcourse the provider will be able to trace the caller on that information, even if callerID was suppressed). The provider will then contact the caller’s provider, who will issue a serious warning to the the caller. I think a second or third warning will be cause for terminating his phone-line/contract, but I’m not sure about those specifics. And once the caller’s number is known, your provider might be able to block this one number from calling you. If all else fails, I doubt that, in such a situation, they will charge you for issuing a new number.
And of course, once you know in what ways your phone-provider can help you, you might want to go to the police to report the crime.
Its a business line that a lot of rather important people phone on a regular basis and so cutting off the number would be a huge pain in the ass.
Hilarious!
I don’t know much about Canada, all tucked away down there, but this sounds like a job for the mounties.
Given those strange phrasings, and your claim that “he never wants to discuss it, just like rambling incoherently,” it sounds like he probably has stuff written down before he calls.
My brother is a paranoid schizophrenic and what you are describing sounds like something he would do, sadly enough. I wouldn’t necessarily say that it is dangerous, but I think it is worth taking some precautions. I would call the police and ask them what they want you to do as far as taping or not taping the calls. When a schizophrenic is unmedicated this would likely be only one of a number of things he is doing to disturb people and mental health professionals and the police need that information to determine if he is a danger to himself or others.
In your case it sounds like the police don’t care very much. I would try again. There is usually a unit that deals with mental health issues that should at least give you an idea of what they can do and whether he might be dangerous. I know from experience that you should absolutely not engage this person in any way on your own. I wouldn’t talk to him at all for any reason. Even if it is to tell him not to call. Paranoid delusions need material to build and develop, you definitely want to decline to provide that material.
Klaatu, seriously though, I see your point about not wanting to hear private pesonal messages between people you don’t know, such as an audio tape of a fight between SMDB member A and his wife, but I don’t think a rambling phone message left by a psycho on the answering machine of a member is quite the same thing, but hey, its your world.
Keep a whistle by the phone. If he calls when you’re home, blow the whistle into the phone. For a long time.
I think you should have called the phone company before the police.
It’s not too late, call them now. They aren’t busy chasing rapers and murderers and they hate this kind of thing. They all get a chance to play policeman, which they kind of groove on.
If you’d called them first you’d have had some actual info that the police may have acted on.
Of course, they are likely to firstly ask, “Have you called the police?”. And the next question will be, “What did they say/do?”. When you say they didn’t take it seriously it’s going to discourage them for sure.
Keep recording the messages. When you have a few more, go back to the police and see if you can’t speak with someone else, it could change things!
It’s obvious to me that Klaatu left the message.
Damn! Too many downloads of the creepy message. Oh well.
I agree with this completely. Same advice I gave to someone who was being harassed via e-mail. Block them out and let them find a new target for their brand of crazy.
I’d be very disappointed by the bland response from the police, to be honest. There’s enough threat and menace in that message to warrant some kind of action, I think.
Did the police get to hear the actual messages firsthand, or did you just describe them generally?
I would also call the phone company. Let them know the nature of the calls and ask them about “call trace” and “call screen”.