DOI: 10.3886/icpsr03411.v1
title: National Review of Stalking Laws and Implementation Practices in the United States, 1998-2001
title: Version 1

description: This study was designed to clarify the status of stalking
 laws and their implementation needs. To accomplish this, the principal
 investigator conducted a survey of police and prosecutor agencies
 across the country to determine how stalking laws were being
 implemented. While there had been significant federal support for
 state and local agencies to adopt anti-stalking laws and implement
 anti-stalking initiatives, no comprehensive review of the status of
 such efforts had been done. Thus, there had been no way of knowing
 what additional measures might be needed to enhance local
 anti-stalking efforts. Two national surveys on stalking were
 conducted. The first survey of 204 law enforcement agencies (Part 1,
 Initial Law Enforcement Survey Data) and 222 prosecution offices (Part
 3, Initial Prosecutor Survey Data) in jurisdictions with populations
 over 250,000 was conducted by mail in November of 1998. The survey
 briefly asked what special efforts the agencies had undertaken against
 stalking, including special units, training, or written policies and
 procedures. A replication of the first national survey was conducted
 in November of 2000. Part 2, Follow-Up Law Enforcement Survey Data,
 contains the follow-up data for law enforcement agencies and Part 4,
 Follow-Up Prosecutor Survey Data, contains the second survey data for
 prosecutors. Parts 1 to 4 include variables about the unit that
 handled stalking cases, types of stalking training provided, written
 policies on stalking cases, and whether statistics were collected on
 stalking and harassment. Parts 2 and 4 also include variables about
 the type of funding received by agencies. Part 4 also contains
 variables about other charges that might be filed in stalking cases,
 such as harassment, threats, criminal trespass, and protection order
violation.
description: Stalking has gained considerable attention from
 the mass media. However, notwithstanding a sizable literature about
 stalking as a legal construct and as a medical issue, systematic
 information about this crime and what has been done about it was
 largely missing. Most significantly, a policy analysis of what needed
 to be done to improve anti-stalking investigation, prosecution, and
 provision of services to stalking victims was totally absent. This
 study of the status of stalking laws and their implementation in the
 United States was conducted to fill this knowledge gap. The premises
 for this research are that stalking is a serious crime against persons
 and that it is widely prevalent. While there had been significant
 federal support for state and local agencies to adopt anti-stalking
 laws and implement anti-stalking initiatives, no comprehensive review
 of the status of such efforts had been done. Thus, there had been no
 way of knowing what additional measures might be needed to enhance
 local anti-stalking efforts. This study was designed to clarify the
 status of stalking laws and their implementation needs. To accomplish
 this goal, the principal investigator conducted a survey of police and
 prosecutor agencies across the country to determine how stalking laws
were being implemented.
description: Two national surveys on stalking were
 conducted. The first survey of 204 law enforcement agencies (Part 1,
 Initial Law Enforcement Survey Data) and 222 prosecution offices (Part
 3, Initial Prosecutor Survey Data) in jurisdictions with populations
 over 250,000 was conducted by mail in November of 1998. The survey
 briefly asked what special efforts the agencies had undertaken against
 stalking, including special units, training, or written policies and
 procedures. Mail reminders were sent to nonrespondent agencies six
 weeks after the initial mailing. A replication of the first national
 survey was conducted in November of 2000. Part 2, Followg-Up Law
 Enforcement Survey Data, contains the follow-up data for law
 enforcement agencies and Part 4, Follow-Up Prosecutor Survey Data,
 contains the second survey data for prosecutors. The survey mailing
 was identical to that conducted in 1998 except that the municipal
 prosecutor agencies that had reported no responsibility for handling
 stalking cases were dropped from the survey. Telephone follow-ups were
conducted for nonrespondents in March of 2001.
description: Parts 1-4 include variables about the unit that
 handled stalking cases, types of stalking training provided, written
 policies on stalking cases, and whether statistics were collected on
 stalking and harassment. Parts 2 and 4 also include variables about
 the type of funding received by agencies. Part 4 also contains
 variables about other charges that might be filed in stalking cases,
 such as harassment, threats, criminal trespass, and protection order
violation.
description: Response Rates: For Parts 1 and 3, the surveys had about a 60-
 percent response rate to the first mailing. A second mailing was sent
 out to the nonrespondents, resulting in a final response rate of over
 80 percent. For Parts 2 and 4, the combined response rate was 82
percent.
description: Presence of Common Scales: None.
description: Not applicable.
description: Datasets: 
DS0: Study-Level Files
DS1: Initial Law Enforcement Survey Data
DS2: Follow-up Law Enforcement Survey Data
DS3: Initial Prosecutor Survey Data
DS4: Follow-up Prosecutor Survey Data
description: All law enforcement agencies and prosecutors in
jurisdictions with more than 250,000 people.
description: The user guide, codebook, and data collection
 instruments are provided by ICPSR as a Portable Document Format (PDF)
 file. The PDF file format was developed by Adobe Systems Incorporated
 and can be accessed using PDF reader software, such as the Adobe
 Acrobat Reader. Information on how to obtain a copy of the Acrobat
Reader is provided on the ICPSR Web site.