Advice - I feel harassed (possibly triggering)

[Uncertain27]

So there are a gang of teenagers who hang around near my house, one of whom tried to steal my phone a few years ago. My family think at least some of them are from local care homes, but we aren't 100% sure.
When they see me, they shout things like "We're going to get you!" and "You smell!" Today, one of them shouted what I think was "We're going to burn you!" which has made me a bit nervous of going out, as it's one of the things I'm scared of anyway.
They've not physically harmed me, so the police probably wouldn't do anything except maybe draw attention to me and make the situation worse. I have no job, so can't afford to move, and I also get a lot of people implying I should feel sorry for them, which I find very annoying! :lac:

Any ideas what I should do? Would I be able to report it as possible care home abuse? If they're acting like that, maybe the staff aren't doing their jobs properly, and the police would probably be more concerned.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Its really tricky, isn't it? Its horrible you have to put up with the behaviour anyway but on top of your anxiety its a real problem so I would say to mention this if you are in therapy incase they can help you with any strategies.

I can understand about reporting it to the police. They may do very little and the result "could" be that things get back and you face abuse. If you go that way can it be done without them working out its you?

Is there some form of community liaison officer who you could talk to? You don't have to tell them anything, just ask them what they can do and then you will have an idea whether the police will be any use or whether there is a better way.

"You smell" isn't a threat but the other two are and one of them is serious so I would ask the officer what they can do about threats and whether more serious ones can mean them taking firmer action.

You can't report it as abuse against the teenagers but it could be reported to the care home as they should have acceptable standards that they expect them to abide by. Again though, be careful and protect yourself. The officer would be able to advise on this and I would imagine there are advise lines or websites that give information about this too.

Good luck.