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**Stalking: Know It. Name It. Stop It.**
 January 2018 | Volume 11 | Issue 1

Over 7  million people a year are victims of stalking and these victims range in age  from high school students and young adults to senior citizens. In the US,  approximately 15 percent of women and 6 percent of men have been a victim of  stalking during their lifetimes.1 January is National Stalking Awareness month and a number of national and local  events are scheduled across the country to highlight resources and encourage  victims to get help.

“Stalking  [is] a course of conduct [over time] directed at a specific person that would  cause a reasonable person to feel fear. Stalking is serious, often violent, and  can escalate [to assault and homicide].”2

 The crime  of stalking can include following victims, repetitive unwanted contact, sending  unwanted gifts, property damage, and active threats to hurt either the victims  or their family members. Technology is now being used in most stalking cases  and can include tracking the victim with hidden cameras or global positioning  systems (GPS), use of public records and online search services to follow  victims, posting negative information online, and doxing.

“There is  often an intersection between stalking and other crimes...property crimes, sexual  assault crimes, domestic violence crimes,” states Detective Deirdri Fishel,  State College Police Department.3

Up to 95  percent of stalking victims know the offender and 67 percent of stalking  victims are also the victim of domestic abuse from their intimate partner. In  addition, about 20 percent of stalkers use a weapon to harm the victim. Law  enforcement and community partner outreach to end stalking will increase  community safety and officer safety, since 20 percent of officer deaths in 2016  resulted from a response to disturbance calls, and the majority of those were  domestic violence service calls.4

Many  resources are available to agencies interested in implementing or expanding  community outreach:
- *Stalking  Resource Center* :  Training and resources for law enforcement agencies and service organizations  to effectively respond to stalking.   Since inception, SRC has trained over 100,000 professionals.   
- *Stalking  Awareness Month* :  Videos, media tools, event planning and other resources to raise awareness  about the crime of stalking.
- *National  Center for Victims of Crime* :  A national, nonprofit organization that advocates for the rights of all  victims, as well as providing resources and training for organizations that  work with crime victims.  
- *Office  for Victims of Crimes* :  A Department of Justice agency that administers the Crime Victims Fund,  provides resources, training and technical assistance. 
- *Office  on Violence Against Women* :  An agency with a focus on national policy to reduce  violence against women and administer justice for victims of domestic violence,  dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking.

There are  a number of publications and multimedia resources to learn more about the crime  of stalking:
- Stalking : A guide for law enforcement on  investigation and response best practices.
- Connecting the Dots - Recognizing  and Responding to Stalking: A roll call video : A video for first responders on how to recognize and  respond to stalking. 
- OVC Help Series for Crime Victims:  Stalking :  Information on stalking with national help-line contacts. 
- Responding  to Stalking : Community  corrections best practices for screening stalkers and coordinating with other  agencies.

 Elizabeth Simpson          Analyst (COPS)          Editor-in-Chief

References:1 Matthew  J. Breiding et al., “Prevalence and Characteristics of Sexual Violence,  Stalking, and Intimate Partner Violence Victimization – National Intimate  Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, United States, 2011”, Centers for Disease  Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Vol. 63, No. 8  (2014): 72http://victimsofcrime.org/our-programs/stalking-resource-center/stalking-information3https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RCBK5Mn55A4 FBI  2016 Law Enforcement Officers Killed & Assaulted report. https://ucr.fbi.gov/leoka/2016

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The Community Policing Dispatch is the e-newsletter of the COPS Office. 

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