What made me think it a targeted dispute? The only victim was a server and the time of attack was around 3:30 p.m., when the lunch crowd was gone and the dinner crowd had yet to arrive. Someone asked me why the villains always come after their prey at work.
My answer: Work doesn’t relocate the way estranged partners do. Particularly if being stalked or abused, a targeted partner seeking escape from a toxic relationship will often move to digs that are either more secure or harder to find. Sadly, though, if that person still has to earn a living, chances are that the place of business hasn’t moved and remains known to the would-be predator.
According to the latest news, the attacker was indeed a former fiancé and domestic partner. The victim had been living with him till recently but had a restraining order against him.
A Better Way
As a thought experiment, suppose future restraining orders came with a special accessory? From what I recall of my workplace violence practice, restraining orders tend to be the least effective against former domestic partners. Partners’ pre-existing notions of what kind of access they deserve are so ingrained as to be nearly impossible to disrupt with mere words on paper. (By contrast, a restraining order against someone who has taken an unhealthy interest in his victim but has not yet gone too far in establishing even what he is capable of imagining as a relationship — that kind of restraining order can do some good.)
Back to the accessory. Think of an ankle monitor with a proximity-activated explosive and a built-in audio warning. Maybe the stalker and stalkee have to wear matching ankle monitors, so as to get a GPS fix on both to enable the explosive device to do its job. Only the stalkee’s is a GPS-only model without the extra features. When the stalker violates the restraining order by getting within the upper limit of the prohibited range, say 1,000 feet of the individual protected by that restraining order, an audio warning annunciates. It warns the stalker to go away immediately and advises that it has summoned police to this location. And it keeps emitting a loud, audible tone. Assuming most people can’t hit anything they are shooting at that is beyond 25 feet, suppose we make 75 feet the point of auto activation of the self-destruct sequence? As the range closes from 100 to 75, a louder warning tone goes off along with a command for everyone in range to clear the area because a protective explosive is about to go off. At 75 feet, boom.
The explosive may not kill the stalker violating the restraining order and fast approaching his intended target, but he, won’t have a leg to stand on. And his prey’s chances of safe escape will be better than ever.
As a bonus, offenders will become very easy to spot and easier, still, to chase down. Repeat offenders may no longer qualify for ankle monitors. (Absence of ankles will do that.) However, their scooters and wheelchairs could be remotely disabled with the right device. Or a bracelet accessory could take the place of the punitive ankle monitor. Another boom would await the repeat attacker.
Lite Version
For those too squeamish to go all the way with this useful innovation, how about a stun gun version instead? It includes audible warnings and loud tones as the villain closes in and then zaps the devil out of him at a certain range. Then it just cycles and keeps re-zapping until authorities arrive with a giant pooper scooper to haul away the puddle of mush that was once the predator.
Should I file for trademark protection ASAP? What could go possibly go wrong?
-- Nick Catrantzos
