Change In The Law: Harsher Penalties For Stalkers – Detectives From Rostock In Operation

Although more than 12 per cent of women in Germany have experienced stalking, that is to say harassment or persistent molestation, at least once, the threat posed by stalkers appeared for a long time not to have been fully recognised by the police and judiciary. Well-known cases of stalking, often with tragic outcomes, have repeatedly made headlines, particularly since the murder of John Lennon by a stalker and fanatical admirer, yet it was not until 2006 that laws to protect victims were passed in Germany, thereby initiating fairer penalties and more targeted prosecution of offenders. Clear evidence enabling the apprehension and conviction of perpetrators can often only be presented to the courts through the deployment of private investigators such as those of Kurtz Detective Agency Rostock, as the authorities frequently take little or no action on their own initiative. For many years, compensation awards resulting from stalking offences were inappropriately low, indeed almost laughable; since the most recent legislative amendment, however, sentences of up to three years’ imprisonment are possible if the victim has suffered a “serious” impairment to their way of life. If the victim dies, threats now carry penalties of up to five years and bodily harm up to ten years – sentencing levels that have been recommended by law in the United States of America since 1993.

Victims Unknown To The Public Are Far More Common Than Celebrity Stalking

Many people are unaware that not only prominent personalities fall victim to stalkers. Such cases are naturally handled in a more media-effective manner and are therefore more present in public perception, and indeed national and international figures from fashion, sport, film and television, music and politics are stalked with alarming regularity. The most recent case in this context was the fortunately harmless arrest of a stalker of internationally acclaimed rock musician Chris Cornell, known as the frontman of the United States bands Soundgarden and Audioslave as well as for various solo and side projects, including the title song to the Casino Royale film. The stalker had first been sentenced in 2014 to wear an electronic ankle monitor for her harassment of the singer, but removed it and went into hiding for some time until she was arrested at a Cornell concert in Louisville, Kentucky, thereby presumably preventing worse consequences. According to media reports, she had gained unauthorised access to the backstage area and was carrying a bladed weapon.

However, every single “unknown” citizen can also become the victim of a stalker, whether an former partner or a stranger who – for reasons incomprehensible to rationally thinking people – selects a particular individual as worthy of admiration, hatred or otherwise, and consequently pursues, pressures and often threatens them with death. Our private detective agency in Rostock assists stalking victims in securing court-admissible proof against their tormentors: +49 381 3739 0080.

What Is Stalking And How Does It Differ From Simple Intrusiveness?

Stalking encompasses all persistent or repeated boundary violations against another person, such as anonymous calls at any hour of the day or night, countless emails, messages and SMS per day, defamation among friends and colleagues, lying in wait for and frightening the victim, and other psychological and physical terror, including unwanted orders and deliveries of items of value to the victim’s home address. As a result of this continuous psychological terror, victims often suffer severe health consequences. Yet the forms mentioned are comparatively less serious cases; our private investigators in Rostock can report many examples in which predominantly female victims, confronted by statistically 81 per cent male perpetrators, are not only subjected to psychological pressure and deprived of their quality of life, but are also physically assaulted, injured through attacks or tampering with cars or bicycles, and in the most extreme cases even killed.

Often, despite enormous suffering, victims do not take stalking seriously enough, feel embarrassed and conceal the harassment for fear of humiliation, or are not taken sufficiently seriously when they decide to report the matter to the police, recounting the harassment and persecution by former partners, colleagues, business partners or rejected admirers. Under the previous legal framework, a report and prosecution were only possible once a criminal offence had already been committed under the old law, not merely upon indications or announcements of one. Yet tragic cases repeatedly demonstrate how difficult it is to escape stalking alone and without the assistance of the judiciary. Our detectives in Rostock are of course at their clients’ side even at the first suspicion: kontakt@kurtz-detektei-rostock.de.

Stalking is not always immediately recognised as such and, until the legislative reform of 2006, was not combated sufficiently by the judiciary. Prior to the introduction of the new stalking legislation, the police and courts were often unable to act until an offence had occurred and could be proven, meaning direct assistance for victims usually came too late.

Private Investigators From Rostock As Help In An Emergency

Even though the new laws have considerably improved the situation for stalking victims, both the police and judiciary, and sometimes even the victims themselves, may fail to recognise the seriousness of the situation, downplaying it as something that will perhaps resolve itself, that is merely embarrassing and unpleasant and should not be exaggerated. Our corporate investigations department in Rostock therefore always recommends seeking the assistance of detectives even at the first suspicions, concerns and impairments to quality of life. These detectives can in turn observe the stalker, confront them if desired, and explain to them the seriousness of the situation for the victim as well as the potential legal consequences. Evidence gathered by investigators, such as video and photographic material, often helps to initiate or at least advance police investigations.

Although the law has been welcomed very positively and as long overdue both by the governing parties and by victim protection organisations such as Weisser Ring, much work still lies ahead for the authorities, as officers must first be sensitised and trained for stalking cases. Stalking will therefore only be reduced to a limited extent in the coming years, even though our detective agency in Rostock regards even small steps along this path as a success.

Do Not Yield To The Perpetrators, But Respond Immediately

The fact that only one third of those affected by stalking go to the police and file a report, and that of this third, 69 per cent subsequently do not feel that they have adequately conveyed the extent of their suffering, demonstrates a considerable need for alternatives to police prosecution. If you have regularly or repeatedly become the victim of telephone harassment, stalking, threats or other activities falling under the term stalking, please contact our IHK-certified corporate and private investigators of Kurtz Investigations Rostock free of charge at any time. We will personally inform you about your further options as well as possible procedures undertaken by our detectives in the event of an assignment and, of course, treat your case with discretion: +49 381 3739 0080.