Please complete the following checklist to enhance your safety in any situation:
Home
- Add alarm system (or small motion-sensor alarms) to home or apartment.
- Trim bushes and trees around home to eliminate or reduce hiding places.
- Place security pins in windows and sliding glass doors.
- Install bars across the center of sliding glass doors.
- Make sure deadbolts are secured with screws at least two inches long.
- Attach motion-sensor lights to outside of home.
- Install locks on bedroom doors.
- Install panoramic peepholes on entry doors.
- Keep cellular phone inside the home (in case phone lines are cut).
- Keep important documents in a security box at a bank.
- Keep an “escape” bag (with necessary daily items) at the home of a trusted friend.
- Consider getting a dog.
Car
- Peer inside and underneath car before entering.
- Vary the routes you take to places of frequent travel.
- Drive with your doors locked at all times.
- Always leave enough space between you and the car in front of you to quickly change lanes.
- Consult with a locksmith about enhancing the locking mechanisms on your vehicle.
- If the stalker somehow gets inside the car with you, avoid driving anywhere. If possible, throw the keys as far away as you can.
Work
- Make sure all of your co-workers are aware of the stalking.
- If possible, vary your work schedule.
- Have someone else record your voice-mail message, so that it is not your own voice.
- Seek escorts to and from your car.
- If possible, eliminate times you are working by yourself.
- Instruct all persons at your workplace to refuse to disclose any information about you to a third party.
- Ask your co-workers to not communicate with the stalker.
Public
- Vary your daily routine.
- Tell only trusted individuals about your future plans.
- If you have a restraining order, carry it with you at all times.
- Tell companions that you are being stalked.
- Avoid isolated places such as alleyways, restrooms, etc.
Notify Sources of Information of the Need for Privacy
- Phone company
- Utilities (electric, water, sewer)
- Homeowner association
- City Hall
- Post office (consider getting a P.O. Box for your mailing address)
- Newspaper delivery
- Internet provider
- Employer
- Professional associations
- Club memberships (fitness, hobbies, music, books, wine, discount stores, sports, etc.)
- Pizza delivery
- Church
- Schools where you are currently or have been previously enrolled
- School reunion committees (high school and college)
- Video rental stores
- Doctors’ offices
- Pharmacy
- Insurance agencies
- Landlord or rental agencies
- Magazine subscriptions
- Credit card companies
- Charities
- Blood drive committees
- Social security office
- Drivers license office
- Tax collector
- Other
Source: Stalking: A Handbook for Victims, Emily Spence-Diehl
