A new report has found that police forces in England and Wales are not adequately protecting victims of stalking. The review concluded that there is a lack of understanding among officers about the scale and types of stalking, which is leaving some victims at serious risk. Campaigners had called for an investigation into the policing of stalking due to concerns that victims were being let down “at every step of their journey to justice”.
The National Police Chiefs’ Council has stated that it welcomes the report’s recommendations and remains committed to improving the police response for victims. However, the family of a woman who was murdered by an ex-partner she had reported for stalking said that confidence in the police had been lost. In 2022, a coalition of charities led by the Suzy Lamplugh Trust submitted a super complaint regarding systemic failures in policing, which led to the investigation.
The report found “clear evidence” to support the charities’ concerns and highlighted the need for significant changes in how police respond to stalking. It also found that the law on stalking is confusing, which hinders police efforts to protect victims. The report sets out immediate steps that chief constables should take to improve stalking investigations and calls for a change in the law on stalking and simplifying stalking protection orders.
Stalking has been shown to be a high-risk indicator of domestic homicide, which is why the family of the murder victim mentioned earlier wants the Independent Office for Police Conduct to find that police failings to protect her amounted to misconduct. The report has been acknowledged as a springboard for action by His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary and the CEO of the College of Policing, both of whom accept that the police’s response needs to improve. The National Police Chiefs’ Council’s lead for stalking has noted that police forces that have integrated multi-agency models to respond to stalking have seen the best success at disrupting perpetrator behaviour and safeguarding victims
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