Victims of stalking are not being protected enough by police forces in England and Wales, a major review has found.
Officers lacked understanding of the scale and types of stalking, and failures were leaving some victims at serious risk, it concluded.
It comes after campaigners pushed for an investigation into how stalking is policed, saying that victims were let down “at every step of their journey to justice”.
The National Police Chiefs’ Council said it welcomed the recommendations and remained committed to improving the policing response for victims.
But the family of one woman who was killed by an ex-partner she had reported for stalking said confidence in the police had been lost.
In 2022, a coalition of charities led by the Suzy Lamplugh Trust submitted a super complaint, where systemic failures in policing can be raised.
The investigation which followed, carried out by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services and the College of Policing, found “clear evidence” to support the charities’ concerns.
It found the law on stalking was confusing and that “significant changes” were needed into how police respond.
Safeguarding minister Jess Phillips MP said the report set out important recommendations for how the justice system could better tackle such an “insidious crime”.
She said the Home Office was looking to work with the police to achieve this, adding that the government would respond to the report fully “in due course”.
In Kingston, south-west London, sisters Lamia and Inass El-Faddi do not need to be told how the police have failed to protect stalking victims.
Their cousin, Wafah Chkaifi, was killed by her ex-partner Leon McCaskie in 2022.
The 43-year-old mother-of-two, who also went by the name Yasmin, had reported McCaskie to the Metropolitan Police for stalking.
But he broke a stalking protection order and even after a warrant was issued for his arrest he wasn’t detained by the police. He then stabbed her to death in the street.
McCaskie was himself killed moments later after a passer-by drove into him in an attempt to stop the attack.
Ms Chkaifi’s cousins say they are not surprised by the findings: “To the police, she’s just another statistic, but to us she’s not a statistic – she was a sister, a mother, a friend.”
Inass said police forces needed to realise just how dangerous stalking can be.
“The stereotype around stalking is it’s just a small thing when it’s not and they need to take it seriously to stop stalking leading to murder,” she said.
Lamia said: “The police are supposed to make the victims feel safer.
“Unfortunately that confidence has been lost by so many women and Wafah is not the first and she’s not going to be the last, so clearly there’s an issue.”
Ms Chkaifi’s family want the IOPC to find that police failings to protect her amounted to misconduct.
Their lawyer, Sophie Naftalin, said stalking was a high-risk indicator of domestic homicide which is why it needed to be tackled in a much more comprehensive way.
“We welcome the fact all these failings are being acknowledged in the report but we now need fundamental change and commitment from all the police forces that the findings will be implemented,” she said.
“But there’s also slight fatigue. We don’t need to keep identifying the same issues we just need to see action.”
The report sets out immediate steps chief constables should take to improve stalking investigations and calls for a change in the law on stalking and simplifying stalking protection orders.
Rachel Watson from the IOPC said stalking has a devastating impact on victims.
“Today’s report highlights some excellent work we want to see become standard right across England and Wales.
“Sadly, we also saw too many cases where police failed to recognise stalking or take the necessary steps to protect victims– and policing must act now to improve this.”
His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary Andy Cooke said: “Change is needed, and today’s report must be a springboard for action.”
Chief Constable Sir Andy Marsh, the CEO of the College of Policing, accepted the police’s response needed to improve.
“Stalking has a significant physical, psychological, and emotional impact on victims…officers now have access to updated advice and training for when they are responding to stalking or harassment cases,” he said.
“One, of a number, of next steps will be to strengthen national guidance for police across England and Wales to improve the quality of investigations.”
Deputy Chief Constable Paul Mills, National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for stalking, said policing needed to respond to the threat of stalking as part of a “wider system approach”.
“As the report highlights, police forces that have integrated multi-agency models to respond to reports of stalking have seen the best success at disrupting perpetrator behaviour and safeguarding victims,” he said.
He said police forces needed to ensure officers and staff had the right skills and resources to identify and investigate reports, adding that the NPCC would work through the recommendations in the report to “improve and standardise the service victims receive.”
