harassment/stalker. what do police do?

what type of action do the police take in the case that someone is being constantly harassed/stalked??

im very concerned about a friend, she is going through this. (the guy doing these things is not japanese if that makes any difference) he will repeatedly call and leave messages saying she better answer the phone or hes gonna go to her house and/or work , etc.. so she changes her number, and a day or two later.. he has this new number and is back to the same thing.. (its not just that.. theres more to it but i guess this is good enoough?) she has gone to the police about it.. but it seems they are doing NOTHING about this.. as its still happening..

since the police dont seem to be of much help, unfortunately.
is there any way immigration can step in and do anything about this?? - being that hes not japanese..

Im really worried about her, especially since it seems to be getting worse :( ..

i want to help her out anyway i can..

if anyone could give me any information as to what can be done, how i can help, what she should do next, etc.
it would be GREATLY appreciated.

Thanks in advance

If what I hear on TV is true, the police are generally reluctant to do anything until the stalker resorts to physical harm or worse. Having said that, I think it is only fairly recently that actual anti-stalking laws have come into effect that enable the police to take action (if they feel like it) before it escalates to actual physical harm. The judge who was arrested recently for email stalking comes to mind.

The important thing is for your friend to collect detailed evidence of the stalking activity. This means recording phone calls and messages, and keeping a log of what occurs when.
Installing calling ID is an option for NTT phone lines, but not an option for mobile phones.

It probably won't be cheap, but contacting a private detective agency could be effective if she cannot resolve the problem on her own.

Incidentally, it is not a matter of concern to Immigration, unless you believe that the person may be residing in Japan illegally.

Hope it works out...

well seems my reply got deleted by the admin.. im guessing it was because of the details even though there were no names or anything.. *sigh*, which my whole point of that was to show that its serious and not just some annoying calls.

but lets try this again in a different way.

but shouldnt the whole point in contacting the police be to Avoid it getting physical??

so then why should it have to get physical for anything to be done?? thats not fair or right in my opinion.

but shouldnt the whole point in contacting the police be to Avoid it getting physical??
Yes, I think everybody agrees and there is always an outrage when somebody gets hurt by a stalker after having complained to the police long before it got violent. And then nothing happens. It seems that a lot of police still thinks that harassment like this is just a way of "courting" and feel that they cannot infringe on the right of the other person. That is why it is important to collect and document as much evidence as possible. Save emails, notes and telephone messages and the number of times this happens a day to show it is stalking.

Anon,

why should it have to get physical for anything to be done?? thats not fair or right in my opinion.

You think it's crazy, I think it's crazy, and most of the Japanese population thinks it's crazy, but at this moment in time, it's a sad fact, but the Japanese police are unlikely to be of any assistance to your friend. You have already found this out, so pursuing that line of action is just a waste of energy.
She will need to arm herself with defensive techniques for dealing with the stalker herself, by which I mean learning how to fend off or ignore harassing phone messages, while at the same time compiling a dossier of evidence of all the harassing behaviour she receives. Sorry to sound like a broken record, but if she cannot do this on her own or with the help of friends, she should consider turning to a private detective agency, as the police are unlikely to lift a finger until it's too late.

The police are so stubborn on stalking and I don't have to go into details to tell you how crazy this is. But the following are some options I can think of.

1) Contact the police but to a consulting service specifically for women (josei soudan). Many police stations now have divisions where policewomen will specifically deal with female victims.

2) Contact local ward office or city hall. Similarly, they are likely to have consulting services for women or at least can guide you to one.

3) If emailing or any sort of internet communication is involved, contact the ciber crime (saibaa hanzai)division of the police department.

4) From a quick internet search on "ストーカー　対策" I found many information, although I'm not sure how effective they are.
http://search.goo.ne.jp/web.jsp?MT=%A5%B9%A5%C8%A1%BC%A5%AB%A1%BC%A1%A1%C2%D0%BA%F6&type=stickdynabook&PT=stickdynabook

I truly hope for the best.