Stalking: Gloucester

Stalking is an insidious crime that can leave victims living in fear just going about their daily lives. This Government is fully committed to tackling stalking and doing all that it can to protect victims. Gloucestershire Police and Crime Commissioner is a recipient of the Home Office’s Domestic Abuse and Stalking Perpetrator Intervention Fund. Through this funding, they are working to improve the use of Stalking Protection Orders (SPOs) and support the work of the stalking clinic, to support the policing response to stalking. More broadly, the VAWG Strategy published on 18 December set out clear action to tackle stalking, including the appointment of Richard Wright KC to lead the Stalking Legislation Review ensuring the criminal law on stalking is fit for purpose, and progressing work to develop national standards for stalking perpetrator programmes, which seek to engage with perpetrators to address the behaviours that are leading to stalking offences with a view to prevention, safeguarding victims and reducing re-offending. A commitment was also made to strengthen the use of SPOs. This includes setting up SPO intensification sites in select forces which aim to drive up use of SPOs and provide opportunities to test innovative approaches to enforce conditions and monitor breaches, which could be adopted nationwide.