>> Just ask any woman who is being threatened by an ex-husband or
>> ex-boyfriend.  What do the cops tell those women?   The cops usually
>> say that they can't do anything until he actually *does* something,
>> and *then* the cops can do something.  I didn't fully understand that
>> until I became the person being threatened.
> I can sympathize with your plight, but what would you have the police
> do when a woman simply claimed that she was being or felt threatened?
Unless the police have some kind of evidence that harm was done, the
most they can do is tell the threatener to go away, and make a report
(which may be used in the future as evidence of a pattern of
harassment.)
I don't know what the standard police procedures are *supposed* to be.
Most states have stalking laws now, but I don't know what their
definitions of stalking or threatening are.
Face-to-face threats are illegal depending on what's said.  Death
threats are illegal, even if not face-to-face, as illustrated by the
Mmoja Ajabu conviction for threatening the victims' parents and the
prosecutor regarding the murder trial of his son.
However, in the case of threats, there still has to be real evidence,
such as a tape recording, video recording, or *reliable* witnesses.
When the abused woman is bruised or bleeding, those injuries are
*evidence* and the cops can make an arrest based on those injuries.
But absent physical evidence, the cops can't do anything, and the person
being threatened or abused has to go to the prosecutor's office to file
charges.
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