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Woman followed at grocery store calls for more monitoring

After an uncomfortable encounter at a grocery store, a Knoxville woman calls for more security measures.

After an uncomfortable encounter at a Knoxville grocery store, a woman is calling for more protection in situations that do not necessarily break the law.

The woman, who has asked not to be named, says she was at a Food City in Knoxville Monday night when a man began following her. She says the man cat-called her, and continued to follow her through the store, even though he did not pick up any groceries.

The woman said she went to the cashier and had security escort her to her car, and the man followed her in the parking lot.

"It was scary because you know all of the images flash through your head," she said.

The woman said she then called Food City and spoke with a manager, and the store called the police, but there was little the police could do since no law appeared to have been broken.

Monday morning, the woman called the police at a non-emergency number.

"I spoke with an officer and reported what happened and was told what I already knew, which was that no crime took place, so there was really nothing I could do about it," the woman said. "That was a little frustrating because you don't know then really what you're supposed to do, and you feel uncomfortable because you want to make sure that people know that the police officers know."

Knox County Sheriff's Office Chief of Administration Lee Tramel says the safest move is notify law enforcement, but in situations where no law is broken, the next best steps aren't as clear.

"Things like this aren't cookie cutter, they all have different shapes," Tramel said. "If they feel like it's important for law enforcement to know, then by all means, call."

The woman who was followed said she hopes there can be a system to create a record of such encounters.

"No crime was committed, but I do think something needs to go on some sort of registry - like a sex offender registry, but not as harsh - but so that the incident was reported, they're caught and maybe that would deter them from doing anything in the future," she said.

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