I hope an arrest is made before an incident occurs. The prevlanent levels of violence towards women in this City is sickening.

I would like to challenge Prince George men and women alike to adopt zero-tolerance of degrading and violent attitudes towards women by their friends and family. By not standing up this kind of behaviour, you are making it OK. A degrogatory joke here and degrading comment there could grow to become violent and harassing behaviour in the future.

http://theenlivenproject.com/the-truth-about-false-accusation/

What happened to the downtown Police foot patrols???

Seems we changed them over to bicycle patrols, and then of course they disapear in the Winter time.

Wow, if I had a dollar for everytime I felt uncomfortable….

Posted by: curmudgeonscurse on January 30 2013 3:15 PM

I hope an arrest is made before an incident occurs.

——————-

Arrest for what?

Aside from finding the guy and asking him to stop being creepy there’s not much else they can do.

At the very least axman, these people need to be spoken to one way or another, either through official means (police) or citizens. We don’t know all the details, but this smacks of predatory behaviour to me. Following strange women and then engaging them in conversation (obviously in a way that makes the women feel uncomfortable) probably to see how confident they are in themselves is a warning sign. A meek woman could easily trigger a prey response in a predator without ever intending to.

The police would well be within their providence to take him in and have a discussion with him.

I agree with Sine, axman. I was one of the women followed last week and it was extremely unnerving. He changed direction to follow behind me then started talking to me. When I answered his questions he never spoke to me again, just stared into my eyes. A minute went by and he just silently stared at me. I was scared. Luckily a cab driving by thought that it wasn’t right and pulled over. As he was staring at me it seemed like he was contemplating something. Finally he glanced at the cab, back at me, and then walked away. I thanked the cab driver but then as I continued onto my car he started to follow me again. I’m lucky the cab waited for me to get in my car and drive away. I agree he can’t be arrested for not doing anything, but he should at least be talked to – maybe it’ll deter him from doing it again and convince him not to do what he was contemplating.

I agree with Sine, axman. I was one of the women followed last week and it was extremely unnerving. He changed direction to follow behind me then started talking to me. When I answered his questions he never spoke to me again, just stared into my eyes. A minute went by and he just silently stared at me. I was scared. Luckily a cab driving by thought that it wasn’t right and pulled over. As he was staring at me it seemed like he was contemplating something. Finally he glanced at the cab, back at me, and then walked away. I thanked the cab driver but then as I continued onto my car he started to follow me again. I’m lucky the cab waited for me to get in my car and drive away. I agree he can’t be arrested for not doing anything, but he should at least be talked to – maybe it’ll deter him from doing it again and convince him not to do what he was contemplating.

Let a baseball bat do the talking.

this is so scary! I never get off the bus unless my partner is there to meet me, I live near Queensway and it is terrifying at night. I wish that the onus was placed less on the victims of such harassment to protect themselves and more on finding and stopping creeps like this. this could escalate and someone could be hurt. we shouldn’t be teaching people to protect themselves so much as teaching creeps to behave more appropriately.

also, does anyone know what this guy looks like? I would love to know what to avoid.

wintergirl, that is scary. I wonder if he is off some medications that he should be taking. Creepy!

I was once followed by a man downtown who told me he liked my leather jacket, then he said “I think I’ll take it”. Luckily a store was still open and I ducked in there. I’ve had a big guy on a motorcycle follow me in the Pine Centre mall parking lot, all the way to my car.

Sadly enough, this story sounds normal to me and I will teach my daughter how to protect herself at all times. Sad but true. Just life for a woman.

That sounds scary wintergirl; I’m glad to hear that someone was there to help you.

Hopefully they catch up to him soon and straighten him out.

I wonder if it would help our downtown if we formed a citizen watch group that “patrolled” the downtown in groups of 2~3?

Buddy may have been confronted sooner if all the incidents resulted in a phone call to police. I have both 911 and the RCMP programmed on my phone.

Since I don’t get downtown much is there any kind of “Good Neighbor” program that businesses have? Kind of like block watch. i don’t mean the DBIA, we all know what they are up to.

Appears to me that his behaviours are the features of compromised mental health. The police and/or a dr need to assess him to determine the risks. If any one can take a picture of said creep it would likely help the police.

Appears to me that his behaviours are the features of compromised mental health. The police and/or a dr need to assess him to determine the risks. If any one can take a picture of said creep it would likely help the police.

Appears to me that his behaviours are the features of compromised mental health. The police and/or a dr need to assess him to determine the risks. If any one can take a picture of said creep it would likely help the police.

Appears to me that his behaviours are the features of compromised mental health. The police and/or a dr need to assess him to determine the risks. If any one can take a picture of said creep it would likely help the police.

I also would like a description of who is doing this to women. I have friends who work downtown and have to walk to their vehicles, usually alone and in the dark. Of course we should walk together, and I agree with Axman that a citizens coalition should be brought together. I would volunteer. I’ve suffered an assault, and would like to do my part to protect others.

I can give you a description of the person that I dealt with, but I can’t guarantee this article was written about the same person. I believe it could be multiple people doing this, and I don’t want people to take this description as a fail safe – if someone is or has approached you and you feel uncomfortable, leave or call 911 if you can. My incident happened so quickly I didn’t have time to call for help – so the suggestions in here from the police to travel in groups is important.

The description for the man I dealt with is:
-Male
-40s or 50s
-A darker complexion – I can’t say for sure what race he was I was scared and my memory is vague
-Dark brown or black hair, it was shortish, under a dark toque, and only stuck out a little
-He had some dark facial hair
-He wore a dark blue fleece and blue jeans
-He didn’t look particularly sketchy or clean cut, just average
-He was short for a guy, maybe between 5″6 or 5″10 (again, sorry for the vagueness, I didn’t have my measuring stick out)
-He had a stocky build, didn’t seem to be overweight or skinny/lanky

And Axman I like your idea of a citizens patrol, maybe we can look into this more.

This person needs to be spoken to. He may be building up the nerve to do something worse. We have had enough violence against women in this city, its time to be proactive.

Citizens on patrol would be a great idea. I also heard that community policing has started making rounds as well. Lets stop this person or people from harming anyone.

“And Axman I like your idea of a citizens patrol, maybe we can look into this more. “

I think the first step would be to contact the community policing people to get their advice and support.

http://communitypolicing.princegeorge.ca/Pages/ContactUs.aspx

As a man, I was so ignorant about the behaviour of some until a conversation with my wife snapped me to it. I was commenting on how I never feel threatened when walking even when I used to volunteer on the Downtown Eastside (DTES).

She took one look at me and said, “That’s because you look like the kind of guy who would rip off someone’s arms and beat them to death with them, whereas I, look like easy prey to a predator. It’s something women have to deal with!”

I never realized the BS women have to put up with just to live: needing escorts to your car, never being able to walk alone, having to live in a heightened sense of vigilance, etc.

While I would never be qualified enough to give advice to women, I know as a man that I do my part by never allowing sexist comments to be said in front of me, even by other men. I like to think it helps.

I feel bad for the ladies that are victims of this type of deviant behaviour. I really hope we can all help and try and get this behaviour to stop.

Methinks we need another “Take back the night march”. Obviously the last few haven’t been very successful.

Where is Grannie,With her louisville slugger. ;0)

Some cities have patrol units consisting of a police officer and a mental health expert, such a counsellor or clinical social worker or psychiatric nurse. Maybe we need something like that.

Yes, please, all you who have experienced this, call the police! They can’t do anything unless they know of a problem. If not you, then it could be another woman. As soon as you get to your car, lock the doors and drive just far enough to keep the perp in sight and call. If you call right away and can keep him in sight, perhaps the police can do something.
And a big thanks to the cab driver who did the right thing.
Those guys see a lot out there and report their share too.

What lousy advice from the cops, but in Canada I guess it’s the best they can offer. “Carry a cell-phone to call 9-1-1”.

A concealed weapon and a willingness to use it in self-defence. That is how criminals are deterred.

“Excuse me, Sir, while I call 9-1-1,” probably won’t help much if an attacker is bent on attacking.

I have been followed before (not here – when I lived in Etobicoke) and it is terrifying. Sorry you had to deal with that wintergirl. :( A citizen’s patrol is a great idea. Nice to see the menfolk out in support. Maybe something with a number you could call as a woman if you had no one to walk with after work. University campuses have groups that do that.

There is a charge, it’s called stalking (watching or besetting), he can be arrested and placed on conditions, just hope they can do an artists rendering of his face, if folks will go in and report it.

What lousy advice from the cops, but in Canada I guess it’s the best they can offer. “Carry a cell-phone to call 9-1-1”.

A concealed weapon and a willingness to use it in self-defence. That is how criminals are deterred.

“Excuse me, Sir, while I call 9-1-1,” probably won’t help much if an attacker is bent on attacking.

Cell phone use in a car costs about $167 bucks. Knock yerself out.

Lets strike fear into the minds of all PG women because one guy says something to a total stranger. (or was she?) Talk about a society living in fear. Thanks to the police and one complaint.

Harbinger, do you think another march will help anything?? Really?? That’s the same as making us register our rifles to stop firearms crime.

I don’t think its one guy… I think we have a whole host of mental illness issues walking around our downtown looking for excitement or something to take out their misplaced anger on. IMO 2nd and 3rd avenue is the new ground zero for these types.

Sarcasm, pal. No way to infer that on this medium.