the Seahawk I NEWS I October 28, 2004
Campus police looking to combat stalking
Barbara J. Twigg
Assistant News Editor
The UNCW Police Department is dis
tributing to students a just-published 12-page
booklet about stalking.
“This is a big issue,” said Police Lieutenant
Mitch Cook, one of the writers of the bro
chure.
“Stalking is serious, often violent and can
escalate over time,” the booklet reads. The
booklet, with an initial printing of 500 cop
ies, describes stalking as a series of actions
(by another person) that make you feel afraid
or in danger. It states that stalking can be a
variety of ways in which a person is harassed,
threatened, followed, watched or persistently
telephoned by another.
“Stalking can grow and become violent,”
Lt. Cook said. “And it can be a crime. It is
covered under North Carolina Statute 14-
277.3. A violation of this section is a Class
A1 misdemeanor. But if there is a court order
in effect prohibiting similar behavior by that
person, that person is guilty of a Class H
felony,” he said.
UNCW Police are currently investigating
some student complaints on stalking. “We
have cases we’re looking into to learn if they
meet the criminal level,” Cook said.
The 2003 UNCW Police Report, released
Sept. 30, 2004 lists three forcible sex offens
es, up from two in 2002. Cook said it was not
immediately known if stalking or domestic
violence was involved in those offenses.
“These types of sexual assault are usually
crimes of opportunity, where the assailant
found the victim intoxicated and took advan
tage of them,” said Cook.
Last spring, two UNCW female students
were murdered by male students with whom
they were acquainted. Cook said that statis
tics show that 49 percent of victims of violent
crime know their assailants.
On May 5 Jessica Lee Faulkner, 18, was
found strangled to death in her room in
Cornerstone Hall. Fellow student Curtis
Timothy Dixon, who lived a few doors down,
is charged with the murder. The 21-year-old
Dixon has been charged with 1st degree mur
der, rape, sexual offense and kidnapping. He
is in the New Hanover County jail awaiting
trial.
On June 4 Christen Naujoks, 22, was
gunned down by another student at her North
Chase apartment. John Peck, 27, a former boy
friend, died three days later of a self-inflicted
gun shot wound, during a police chase. On
April 26 Naujoks had filed a complaint with
police seeking a protective order against Peck.
It stated he had threatened her with a gun.
“If you feel you are being stalked, trust
your intuition and get help,” Cook said.
For help, Cook recommends students con
tact the UNCW Police Department, the Dean
of Students, Housing and Residence Life,
Client Services or the Counseling Center
Counselor Dee Casey said that the center
does get student complaints about stalking.
“We currently have less than a handful.”
Casey said the majority of problems stu
dents come to talk about revolve around
relationships.
“They can be romantic, family, roommate,
or teacher relationship problems,” she said.
“And they could involve stalking.”
Casey, who has been a counselor at UNCW
since 1988, said she doesn’t feel stalking and
domestic violence are on the rise.
“These issues have always been occur
ring. They’re just coming to light more often.
I don’t believe they’re just suddenly going
on. We urge any student with any problem
to come and talk to a counselor,” Casey said.
“We’re here to help.”
Lieutenant Mitch Cook of the UNCW Police recently published a booklet in
forming students of the dangers involved with stalkers. He recommends that
students who believe they are being stalked contact a university ofTicial imme
diately to avoid the possible escalation of activity to the criminal level.