I would be extremely grateful for advice and assistance.

Earlier this night, I answered our phone and found myself speaking with an unfamiliar male voice. He asked for my wife by her first name. I asked who was calling and he said he was, "Jamal Anderson". He then started spewing profanities and made several statements that I CLEARLY interpreted as a threat of rape. For sake of decency, I will not reproduce the exact words he used.

This person/voice is completely unfamiliar to me or my wife. We have not had trouble with anyone who could possible be doing this. Specifically, my wife cannot think of anyone who may be responsible.

I hung up the phone and called 911. They directed me to my local police station. I called the station, and the officer who answered told me to come in and file a report. I immediately (it was about 10:45pm) went to the police station to file the report. The officer took down my information. When I asked the officer, what would be done next - his attitude seemed quite apathetic to me. From his response, it seemed as if this was an extremely low priority case and for all possibility nothing at all might be done. He said a detective would probably look at the report - but he was not sure if anything would be done about it.

Now I know that LAPD has many more serious crimes than it has personnel. But for me personally, what happened today is EXTREMELY distressing - and I need to seek some kind of resolution to this issue.

We just had a baby girl two months ago, and my wife is at home alone the whole day while I am at work. I am not exagerrating here when I say that I am right now on the verge of being terrified. I cannot understand right now how someone can tell me that this is not a serious issue.

I will call the phone company tommorow (they are closed right now) to see if they can trace the call. But shouldn't the police have the ability to pull my phone records and see where the call was made from?? I mean I will give them authorization to do whatever they want - but it seems as if they are not assigning this any priority.

I am really worried. What if this psycho decides to stalk out my place. What if he already is? I mean if he is crazy enough to call and threaten in such an obscene manner.

I feel pretty powerless right now - and I am really upset because my wife is really upset. I would be grateful is someone could advise me on how to act/proceed.

I really hope this was just a prank call by some stupid a$$hole. But from the tone of his voice - it didn't seem that he thought was joking.

 

Hi there,

First of all don't panic. If your wife has any friends that also do not work during the day, you may want to have some of them come over to keep her company while you attempt to trace the call or go to work tomorrow. As far as the reaction from the authorities, it's sad to see where your tax dollars are going when you are really in need of the police to do some investigation. All you can do is have some faith that something may turn up. In the meantime, take caution and alert your neighbors so that they can keep an eye out for any suspicious people or activity.

I hope it was just a prank call though. I'm sure you and your family will be ok. Please let us know any new details.

Richard

 

As sad and scary as it may be (and even though you won't believe us), it's probably a prank call. A malicious one at that. Get caller ID, and you can try to star 69.

Most prank callers are pansies...that's why they prank call.

They don't have the nuts to do something in real life, so they resort to telephone threats from unidentifiable locations.

You'll be ok.

Stay calm (I know it's tough).

 

If you were in any real danger, you wouldn't know about it.

If he had any real intention of causing your family any harm, he wouldn't have called you first and warned you.

 

K-9 Detection and Training Division

Prey-9

Ultimate K9

Do you really need more?

 

Dam Psycho. My worries are of two things:

1. Knows your wifes name.
2. Knows your number.

What they say is most crimes are commited by people you know. Obviously this guy must know your family, to know your wife's name, and phone number. I suggest you remain calm, and call the phone company. See if there is a trace. Keep your doors and windows locked, and if this happens again, call the police again.

There is also a machine out there that will tape conversations, (fry's electronics)- Make a tape of it and see if your wife recognizes the voice.

Until then, let's hope that's a RANDOM call.

BC

 

Guns. Lots of guns.

 

I agree with many of the replies you have received.

I would also add that your wife (and you) carry a cell phone with 911 programmed into it with a "one button push".

Keep it in your pocket or on your person at all times until you feel a resolution to the problem has been achieved. Have your wife carry it in a pocket even when she is at home. In that way, she will be able to call for help no matter where she is.

Keep on the police - the noisy wheel gets the oil. If you keep asking what they are doing, maybe they will do something just to keep you from 'bothering' them all the time.

Make sure the phone company puts a tracer on your phone. If they won't do it, send them a certified letter, putting them on notice of a potential injury taking place if they don't act.

Have you thought about changing your phone number? I put mine into my wife's maiden name with a first initial only. I think I acheived a 'free unlisted number'.

Good Luck.

Mike

 

911? Call 911 to start the investigation of the crime scene. 911 and the cops are usually only there after the fact (or to clean up the mess). Personal protection is what I would recommend. I sleep very well at night with two big dogs, a shotgun under my bed and handguns strategically placed throughout the house. You already see how eager they are to help you. 911 would only be called from my house if I knew the situation was under control and to come get the dead cold criminal out of my house. My answer may seem harsh but it's a reality. Police offers can't prevent most crimes.

 

Moneeb: This sounds more like a hate crime to me. Call the phone company right away, there's a seperate process for situations like these. I found it out first hand after some guy started harassing me on the phone on a daily basis. The authorities cannot do anything about it because the phone company needs to start that tracking process first. Once they start logging your calls, it should be able to track the caller and then the cops can do something about it. You already did the right thing by filing a report. Talk to your phone co right away, laws vary by states, they should be able to tell you what's the best approach.