DEAR HARRIETTE: I live on the ground floor of an apartment complex. It is in the city, but it is surrounded by a small garden and fence. The other morning, I felt something weird and opened my eyes. Standing outside my window was a random man staring in at me. My bedroom is small. While there was a window between us, he was literally only about 10 feet away from me. I screamed, and he ran off. My sons went out to track him down as I called the police. My sons found him and showed the police where he was. The police talked to him and released him. I asked them to arrest him, but they said they hadn't caught him doing anything, so they couldn't. I am so worried about this. It was horrible waking up to him looking in on me. The police don't seem to be much help. What can I do? — Peeping Tom DEAR PEEPING TOM: I'm sorry this happened to you. It is frightening for something like that to occur when you are most vulnerable. Is there a neighborhood watch for your building or community? You can talk to them about community policing. If there isn't one, maybe you can start a group of people who will patrol your building and look out for each other. You can install a motion-activated video recording system, like Ring, to capture images of anyone who passes your window. Some of these devices also have lights that turn on automatically. That can help deter onlookers. You may want to install a safety grille over your window and invest in blackout curtains to protect your privacy. Also, keep the police informed if this happens again.