Have you ever wondered what you legally can and cannot do when someone is bugging you? The UT Martin Department of Public Safety sent out a campus wide email giving tips about stalking behavior and what to do.
The University defines stalking as "engaging in a course of conduct directed at a specific person, regardless of one's relationship with that person, which would cause a reasonable person to : (1) fear for their safety or the safety of another person; and (2) suffer substantial emotional distress."
To clarify, if you are repeatedly following, texting, or contacting someone and they have asked you to stop, but you don't, then continuing to follow them or contact them could lead to criminal charges and/or disciplinary actions by the university.
You HAVE the right to:
Not give away your phone number
Not give away your Snapchat code
Not accept a friend/ follow request on social media
Tell someone to stop contacting you
Block someone from your phone and/or social media
Decide what personal information you share with others.
You DO NOT have the right to:
Demand or threaten someone to talk to you
Repeatedly contact someone who does not want to talk to you or has asked you stop contacting them
Create other social media accounts or use other phone numbers to follow or contact someone once you have been blocked.
Follow someone
Public Safety says if you feel unsafe in any campus area or find yourself with any suspicious person or activities, call Public Safety at 731-881-7777 or use the emergency phones that are scattered across campus. You can also email a crime tip anonymous by emailing crime.utm.edu.
Public Safety says be an active bystander. If you see something that doesn't look right, recognize the situation and safety intervene, or contact the Public Safety Department.
A tip from WUTM is to safe the phone number for UTM Public Safety in your phone!