How to Call the Police for Harassment and What to Expect

If someone is harassing you, call 911 when you feel you’re in immediate danger and call your local police department’s non-emergency line for anything ongoing that isn’t an active emergency.¹ Knowing how to call the police for harassment is partly a matter of picking the right number, and mostly a matter of walking in with the documentation officers need to treat the conduct as a crime rather than a complaint. About one in five women and one in ten men experience stalking during their lifetimes, and much of that behavior qualifies for law enforcement action.² The rest of this article walks through what qualifies, what to bring, and what happens next.

When Harassment Becomes a Police Matter

Not every rude or unpleasant interaction is a crime. Criminal harassment statutes vary by state, but they share a framework: the behavior is repeated, unwanted, and either threatens harm or serves no legitimate purpose. A single rude comment from a stranger almost certainly won’t qualify. A pattern of threatening messages, following you, or showing up uninvited after being told to stop usually will.

Most criminal harassment laws require at least one of these:

A credible threat, meaning the person communicates intent to harm you, your family, or your property, and a reasonable person would take it seriously.
Repeated unwanted contact after you’ve made clear the contact is unwelcome — calls, texts, messages, or showing up.
Conduct that would cause a reasonable person to fear for their safety, such as surveillance or following, even without an explicit threat.

The distinction matters because police generally need a criminal violation before they can act. If the conduct doesn’t meet the legal definition, officers may be limited to documenting the incident and pointing you toward a civil protective order.

When harassment crosses state lines or moves through electronic communications, federal law adds another layer. Under 18 U.S.C. § 2261A, it’s a federal crime to use the mail, the internet, or any electronic communication service in a course of conduct that places someone in reasonable fear of death or serious injury, or that causes substantial emotional distress.³ That reach matters for cyberstalking: threatening emails, coordinated social media harassment, and persistent online contact can be prosecuted even when the harasser is in a different state.

How to Make the Call

Use 911 if the harassment is happening right now, if the person is at your home or workplace, or if you believe you’re in physical danger. For ongoing conduct that isn’t an active emergency — a pattern of threatening messages, an ex who keeps driving past your house, an anonymous caller you want on record — use the non-emergency line, walk into the station, or use the department’s online reporting tool if one is available.¹ Some departments also run anonymous tip lines, which can be useful if you’re unsure whether the situation warrants a formal complaint.

Before you dial the non-emergency number, take a few minutes to write down what you’re going to say. Officers respond better to a specific account than a general one. “They texted me 47 times in one day after I asked them to stop” carries more weight than “they keep bothering me.”

What to Bring to the Report

The strength of a harassment case depends almost entirely on documentation. Officers, prosecutors, and judges all need to see a clear pattern, and your records are what establishes one. Bring everything you have:

A timeline with dates, times, and locations for each incident in chronological order.
Screenshots of messages, saved voicemails, emails, photos of the person at your home or workplace, and any other physical documentation.
Names and contact information for anyone who witnessed the harassment.
Any prior reports you’ve made or other agencies you’ve contacted.

For digital harassment, preserve messages in their original format when you can. A screenshot showing a threatening text is more persuasive when it includes the sender’s number and a timestamp than when it’s cropped down to the text alone. Where possible, export full conversation threads rather than editing individual images.

Witness accounts add real weight. If coworkers, neighbors, or friends have seen the conduct firsthand, ask them to write down what they observed while the memory is fresh. Written statements become especially valuable if the case reaches a courtroom.

Expect to give a written statement describing the harassment and how it has affected your sense of safety. Once the report is filed, you’ll receive a case number. Keep it. You’ll need it to follow up, to reference the report in a protective order petition, or to hand to a prosecutor later.

What Police Will Actually Do

Filing a report does not guarantee an arrest or even an investigation. Response varies with the severity of the conduct, the evidence available, and local department resources. The realistic range looks like this:

Documentation only. For lower-level harassment, officers may take your report, log it, and advise you on next steps without opening an investigation. Frustrating, but the paper trail matters later.
A warning to the harasser. Police may contact the person and tell them that continuing the behavior could bring charges. This alone stops some harassers.
An active investigation. When the evidence suggests a criminal violation, detectives may open a case, interview witnesses, and request records from phone companies or social media platforms using subpoenas and warrants that private citizens can’t obtain.
Arrest. In cases involving direct threats of violence, physical contact, or violations of an existing protective order, police may arrest the harasser on the spot.

Violating a restraining order or protective order is a separate criminal offense in every state, and police are generally required to act on it. Under federal law, stalking someone while violating a protective order carries a mandatory minimum of one year in prison.⁴ If you already have an order in place, tell the responding officer immediately and have a copy ready.

If the Police Won’t Act

This is where a lot of people get stuck. You file a report, the officer is sympathetic, and then nothing happens. Maybe the conduct doesn’t clearly fit the statute. Maybe the department is short-staffed. Maybe you’re told “it’s a civil matter.” You still have options.

Your most immediate alternative is petitioning the court for a civil protective order, which doesn’t require police cooperation or a criminal charge. You apply directly to the court, present your evidence, and a judge decides. Many courthouses have self-help centers or victim advocates who can walk you through the paperwork, and most jurisdictions waive filing fees for harassment and domestic violence petitions.

You can also take your evidence to the prosecutor’s office. In some jurisdictions, prosecutors can review a case and decide to file charges even without a police referral. Bring your documentation, your case number, and any witness statements.

If the harassment involves a federal element — someone crossing state lines to target you, or a course of electronic communications that reaches across states — you can contact your local FBI field office or file a complaint with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in your district. Federal prosecutors sometimes take cases local police lack the jurisdiction or resources to pursue.

When to Route the Complaint Elsewhere

Some harassment situations have their own enforcement systems that run separately from the criminal justice process, and calling the police is not always the fastest path to a result.

Workplace Harassment

Harassment at work based on race, sex, religion, national origin, age, disability, or another protected characteristic is a form of employment discrimination. The legal test is whether the conduct is severe or pervasive enough to create a hostile work environment that a reasonable person would find intimidating or abusive.⁵ Complaints go to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission rather than the police. You generally have 180 days from the discriminatory act to file, extended to 300 days if a state or local agency enforces a similar law.⁶ If the workplace conduct also involves physical assault or death threats, file with both the EEOC and local police.

Housing Harassment

The Fair Housing Act covers harassment by landlords, property managers, or other tenants when it’s based on a protected characteristic. Housing harassment complaints go through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. If the conduct also involves threats, physical violence, or stalking, report it to law enforcement at the same time.

Two Legal Traps to Avoid

Before you start gathering evidence or filing reports, be aware of two ways a harassment complaint can backfire.

The first is recording conversations. Federal law lets you record a conversation you’re participating in without telling the other person.⁷ Roughly a dozen states require all parties to consent. Recording in one of those states without the other person’s knowledge could expose you to criminal liability, which is the last thing you need. Check your state’s wiretapping law before you hit record.

The second is filing something that isn’t true. Every state criminalizes filing a false police report, typically as a misdemeanor, and knowingly making a false statement to a federal law enforcement officer carries up to five years in prison under 18 U.S.C. § 1001.⁸ The person you falsely accused can also sue you for malicious prosecution. Reporting in good faith protects you even if prosecutors ultimately decline to bring charges; the risk arises only when incidents are fabricated or substantially exaggerated.

Where to Get Help

If you aren’t sure where to start, a victim advocate can walk you through the report, the safety planning, and any protective order paperwork at no cost. Many police departments and courthouses have advocates on staff. National resources include:

VictimConnect, at 855-484-2846, offers 24-hour referrals to local victim service providers.⁹
The National Domestic Violence Hotline, at 1-800-799-7233, handles harassment tied to domestic or intimate partner situations.
The EEOC, at 1-800-669-4000, takes workplace harassment complaints based on a protected characteristic.⁶

1
USAGov. Report a Crime
2
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2023/2024 Stalking Data Brief
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2261A – Stalking
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2261 – Interstate Domestic Violence
5
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Harassment
6
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. How to File a Charge of Employment Discrimination
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2511 – Interception and Disclosure of Wire, Oral, or Electronic Communications
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1001 – Statements or Entries Generally
9
Office for Victims of Crime. Stalking – Office for Victims of Crime