Spilygy T ym o o , \t\l2vm Springs, O regon
Jgnusry 29, 2009
Page 5
Texting can be a type of stalking
B y M a r k M a tth e w s
V ic tim s o f C rim e Services
Your teenager just g ot an
other threatening text, the fifth
threatening text message that has
been received in the past day.
■ W hat are you going to do?
T eens, th e ir p aren ts, an d
other victims o f repeatedly ha
rassing, annoying or threatening
text messages often feel scared,
or at least repeatedly annoyed.
However, the cell phone own
ers may n o t understand th at
threatening and annoying re
peated unwanted text messaging
is criminal.
January is National Stalking
Awareness M onth, and victim
advocates at the Tribal Victims
o f Crime Services, plus victim
advocates across the country,
are using the m onth o f January
as an opportunity to educate the
public about stalking— the per
vasive crime that affects nearly
1.4 million Americans a year.
Type of stalking
Repeated, unwanted text mes
saging are a type o f stalking.
Stalking and harassment are
crimes on the W arm Springs
Indian Reservation.
All 50 states have passed laws
that make it illegal to engage in
stalking— usually defined as a
course o f conduct directed at a
specific person that would cause
a reasonable person to feel fear.
The Warm Springs tribal code
fo r the crim e o f S talking is
WSTC 305.180, which states:
“Stalking: Any Indian who
shall knowingly alarm or coerce
another person or a member o f
that person’s immediate family
or household by engaging in re
peated, unwanted contact with
the other person where the re
peated and unw anted contact
causes the victim reasonable ap
prehension regarding the per
sonal safety o f the victim or a
mem ber o f the victim’s imme
diate family or household, shall
be deemed guilty o f stalking.”
Jail and fine
The maximum fine for a con
viction o f the tribal crime o f
stalking is either a $5,000 fine,
one year in jail, or both. The
tribal court has the pow er to
exclude non-members if a per
son is convicted o f stalking or
any other tribal crime.
A c c o rd in g to V ictim s o f
Crime Services, som e o f the
stalking cases on the reservation
have in v o lv ed m u ltip le u n
wanted text messages and tele
phone calls to the stalking vic
tims.
O ther stalking cases on the
reservation include repeated,
unwanted contact by a form er
intimate partner.
W arm Springs Police Sgt.
Paul Jim estimates that he has
responded to about 12 to 18 of
fensive text messaging cases in
2008. T his does h o t include
those offensive text messaging
stalking cases reviewed by ser
geants Mobley and White.
Victims should report the of
fending text message stalking to
tribal police and carefully docu
m ent evidence by writing down
the times, dates, and places they
are stalked.
They should keep e-mails,
phone messages, letters, notes,
and anything sent by the stalker.
Victims should also alert friends,
family m em bers, room m ates,
and co-workers about the stalk
ing and enlist their support and
help.
Sammy Bruised H ead, the
Victims o f Crime Services su
pervisor advocate, reminds cell
phone owners to “save all your
threatening text messages be
cause they are evidence. Victims
can either forward the offend
ing text message to the tribal
police as an email, or take the
cell phone to the police so they
can take a photograph or copy
o f the text message.”
V ictim cell p h o n e ow ners
may not understand that stalk
ing is criminal. A nd what they
don’t know about stalking may
jeopardize their lives.
Stalking behavior can range
from annoying and intrusive to
terrifying and dangerous. Stalk
ing can escalate to violence
and-—in the w orst-case situa
tions— murder.
To d efeat tex t-m assag in g
stalkers, both victims, police, and
communities must take stalking
seriously.
V ictim s o f an n o y in g o r
threatening text messages should
call 911 and have the W arm
Springs Police D epartm ent take
a report and do a follow-up in
vestigation.
They can also receive support
from V ictim s o f C rim e Ser
vices, the tribal victim ’s assis
tance departm ent. VOCS can
help victims devise a safety plan,
learn about the tribal laws, ac
cess other services, and take ad
ditional steps, such as seeking a
tribal restraining order.
Family members, friends and
the tribal community can sup
port stalking victims by listen
ing, showing support, and never
b lam in g th e v ic tim fo r th e
crime. They can also discourage
text message stalking and other
stalking-type o f behavior.
Victims need to know that
help is available. They can call
VOCS at 553-2293 during of
fice hours, or at 553-1171 on
weeknights and weekends. And
o f course, they can call tribal
police dispatch at “911” at any
time. Victims can also call 1-
800-FYI-CALL, the N ational
C enter for V ictim s o f Crime
Helpline, or visit www.ncvc.org
for help w ith stalking o r any
other crime.
I f you are being stalked or
if you know o f a stalking vic
tim, call the Warm Springs Po
lice Dispatch on the 911 emer
gency télephone for immediate
resp o n se and assistance. Re
member, you are n ot alone, the
W arm Springs Police D ep art
m ent and Victims o f Crime Ser
vices D epartm ent are here to
help.
T he preceding inform ation
on stalking is presented by the
Warm Springs Victims o f Crime
Services D epartm ent with fac
tual information provided by the
Stalking Resource Center, N a
tional C enter for V ictim s o f
Crime, www.ncvc.org/src.
(V O C S is partially funded byfhe
O V C ’s T V A grant no. 2 0 0 6 - V R -
G X -0 0 1 7 (U SD O J) and the Family
Violence Prevention Services A c t
grant, A d m n . For Children & Fami
lies (U S H & S S ). Points o f view pre
sented here are those o f V O C S and
not the U S Dept. o f Justice or U S
D epti Health & H um an Services.)
University schedules distance
learning orienation in W.S.
Eveyone is invited to an
E astern O regon University
o rie n ta tio n session fro m
1:30-2:30 p.m. on Thursday,
Feb. 5 upstairs in the Educa
tion building.
An advisor from the uni
versity will be on hand to dis
cuss the university and its
distance education programs.
Many students in the re
gion are already working to
wards degrees with majors in
anthropology/sociology, busi-
ness administration or eco
nomics, English, fire services
administration, physical activ
ity and health, philosophy,
politics, psychology and lib
eral studies.
C om e to th e u p sta irs
training room in the Educa
tion building to learn more.
For further inform ation,
call the Eastern Oregon Uni
versity regional cen te r in
Bend, 385-1137.
Meetings set on IRMP
Integrated R esource
Management Plan meet
ings are being scheduled
to review comprehensive
developm ent plans fo r
the Warm Springs and
Simnasho community ar
eas.
Plans are also being
developed for other res
ervation areas, and meet
ing participants are in
vited to learn how they can
help shape future devel
opment in their communi
ties.
The meetings will start
at 6 p.m. and will be held
at Simnasho on Tuesday,
F eb rua ry 10; and in
W arm
S prings
on
W ednesday, F e b ru a ry
11. For more information
please contact the Plan
ning Department at 553-
3270.
FENDERS by ENDRES
Panel discusses victim impacts of DUII
B y M a rk M a tth e w s
V ic tim s o f C rim e Services
The Driving U nder the In
fluence Victims Im pact Panel
m e t in M adras e a rlier th is
month.
During the meeting, the au
dience listened to seven speak-
e rs^ -E liz a Jim , G ene Smith,
Demus Martinez, Fawn Begay,
K ate R orher, F oster K alam a
and myself—describe how driv
ing under the influence traffic
crashes, involving fam ily or
friends, have affected their lives.
Kate Rorher noted that this
was the fiftieth time that she has
talked to a group about how the
D U II death o f a close friend
affected her.
T h e re w ere a to ta l o f 21
m an d a to ry a tten d ees at th e
meeting, including five juveniles.
They attended this D U II Vic
tim Im pact Panel in accordance
to their treatm ent program, ju
venile caseworker, or sentenc
ing judge.
O ne o f the attendees was
discovered to have alcohol on
his breath. This individual is on
probation, and was taken to the
J efferson County Jail by the pro
bation officers, where he blew
a .05 blood alcohol content on
the intoxilyzer. H e was detained
at the jail on a probation viola
tion arrest. He did not get credit
for attending this D U II Victims
Im pact Panel.
T he fo rfeited fee was d o
nated to the Jefferson County
EMS (ambulance service) vol
unteer training.
A slide show, called Trauma
N urses Talk Tough, was p re
sented at the end o f the meet
ing.
This visual im pact program
shows slides o f wrecked D U II
cars and the victims, living and
deceased, with a short narrative
emphasizing the importance o f
n o t driving after consuming al
cohol and using seatbelts and
child safety seats when driving.
Jefferso n C ounty Juvenile
Officer Liz Littledeer attended
the session, as an invited guest
and observer. There were three
designated d rivers/parents o f
juveniles in attendance, w ho
were n o t charged any fees to
attend.
D is tric t a tto rn e y S teve
LeRiche, and the newest deputy
district attorney will be the in
vited guests for the next D U II
Victims Im pact Panel.
I would like to thank Rich
ard Vigil and Brad M ondoy o f
the Jefferson County Probation
D epartm ent/A dult Community
Corrections for their assistance
with set-up, registration, and se
curity.
Thank you to Will Bean for
the use o f the Trauma Nurses
T alk T o u g h slide p ro g ram .
Thank you Frank O -H eam for
interpreting English to Spanish.
The next V IP in Madras is
set for 7 p.m ., Tuesday, April
14 in Madras. Please contact me
at 325-1517.
O r sen d an em ail to:
m arkm adras@ hotm ail.com . I f
you have any suggestions or
comments about improving the
VIP, or if you know o f anyone
w ho m ight be a speaker at a
future VIP, please contat me.
(Note: V ictim s o f Crime Services
is exploring the idea o f establishing
a D U II victims impact panel in Warm
Springs. The hope is to have the panel
in place by the middle to end o f this
year. A nyone interested should call
V O C S a t 553-2293.)
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