Law students - need your help

[Radioguy9698]

i have an ex gf that i signed a restraining order on, last week i counted 5 times that she appeared at places i was at that would be counted as violations of the restraining order..

the last time was friday....do i have a certain amount of time to files the complaint that she violated the restraining order?

i'm thinking of doing it tonight now that i am not so busy

[Lithium Flower]

The sooner would be better. I've got a law background but am giving a common sense answer. Call the cops NOW! :p

[Inspector Fowler]

The above answer is correct - call the police immediately. Speaking as a cop, nothing irritates me more than somebody (no offense) who has a list of times the person violated the restraining order but they didn't call. A restraining order is meant to protect you from being harassed or assaulted. If you fear this person so little you've let 5 incidents pass without calling the police, the restraining order is probably not necessary.

I'm sorry to sound like a dick about this. But police get a lot of shit about not enforcing restraining orders. What the public often doesn't see or understand is that many people get restraining orders not because they fear another person but because they are tired of dealing with them or want to make them look bad for some legal reason. This (in effect)creates a substantial amount of background noise that makes it difficult to determine which restrained parties are actually dangerous and which ones have been restrained for less necessary reasons.

Here is a good example: I met a guy once who had come back from Iraq to discover his wife cheating on him. He never threatened or harassed her. But his (now ex) wife, as part of the divorce, told the court that this guy was mentally unstable after his combat tour. She had a restraining order put on him that included no weapons possession. This cost him his job as a security guard, and probably a future career in law enforcement. Our best guess is that she had the restraining order put in place so she could get full custody of the kids and a better divorce settlement. It's tough to believe she was afraid of this guy when she'd never said word one to law enforcement about it, just in civil court.

So in short, call the police immediately, or you look like somebody who has instituted the restraining order because you have a vendetta against your ex. We are happy to help people who are being legitimately harassed or threatened or whatever. But when somebody appears to be gaming the system to their own ends, it doesn't make us inclined to go the extra mile.

[Radioguy9698]

thanks inspector fowler.....police have been called.