Super-complaint on police response to stalking ‘eligible to be investigated’, says HMICFRS

Submitted at the end of last year by the Suzy Lamplugh Trust, on behalf of the National Stalking Consortium, the super-complaint said there were “systemic issues” in the response to stalking across England and Wales.

In a statement published on Thursday (January 26), HMICFRS said: “In November 2022, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary and senior representatives from the Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC), and the College of Policing received a super-complaint submitted by the Suzy Lamplugh Trust, on behalf of the National Stalking Consortium.

“The super-complaint is about the police response to stalking.

“HMICFRS, the IOPC and the College of Policing have assessed the super-complaint as being eligible to be investigated.”

The consortium, which comprises 21 stalking specialists including frontline services, victims and academics, collated evidence which suggested that ten years since stalking legislation was brought into force, there were still “deep-rooted systemic issues” across police forces that are putting many victims at risk.

It said only five per cent of reports of stalking to the police in the year ending March 2022 resulted in a charge by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

“It is our expert opinion that in many cases police are failing to identify stalking behaviours as a course of conduct at an early stage, contributing to them being mischarged by the CPS,” the consortium said.

Issues of concern raised in the super-complaint include a lack of understanding among officers as to what behaviours constitute stalking, as well as treating behaviours as single incidents as opposed to recognising the wider pattern of behaviour.

“It is common for the crime to be investigated as a ‘lower-level’ offence, such as malicious communications or criminal damage, or to be misidentified as harassment, thus setting a course for an incorrect pathway through the criminal justice system,” the super-complaint noted.

The consortium was also “highly concerned” that in the cases where stalking was identified, too often police were not investigating the crime appropriately, “erroneously dropping cases due to a perceived lack of evidence; for example, incidents of unwanted online behaviour such as the use of social media, emails and phone calls”.

According to the consortium, in the year ending March 2022, a quarter of all stalking reports were dropped due to issues relating to evidence, in cases where the suspect had been identified and where the victim supported action.

It is also said it was evident that the “detrimental psychological impact on the victim” is often not being recognised, with 91 per cent of victims in a study experiencng mental health issues after being stalked, nor was the risk of homicide in stalking cases (94 per cent of femicides in a study had stalking in their antecedent history).

In addition, the super-complaint said Stalking Protection Orders, designed to protect victims while evidence is collated for a prosecution, were often not put in place by officers.

Among a number of recommendations put forward by the consortium was a need for the College of Policing to mandate that all officers that deal with cases of stalking complete training by a specialist stalking training provider, so they can adequately identify, investigate and risk-assess cases of stalking.

It said police forces should also consider investment in improving digital evidence retrieval for cyberstalking.

Suky Bhaker, chief executive officer of the Suzy Lamplugh Trust, says failure to identify and investigate stalking at the earliest possible opportunity results in “an increasing risk of physical and psychological harm to the victim”.