In May 2021, the BBC Shared Data Unit worked with Newsbeat and BBC Radio Wales to report on new stalking laws that were not being used by all police forces in the country to protect victims.
Stalking Protection Orders (SPOs) are a civil power available to police which impose restrictions on suspected stalkers.
But data showed the use of SPOs, which had been available to police forces in England and Wales since January 2020, varied widely from force to force, with four failing to apply for a single order in the previous fifteen months.
We also analysed national crime outcomes data which showed the number of stalking incidents recorded by police had surged in the previous five years, with more than half of all police forces in England and Wales seeing stalking incidents double since 2019.
The Home Office said it would meet with police chiefs to review their use of the orders.
The BBC Shared Data Unit sent requests under the Freedom of Information Act and gathered responses from 41 out of 43 police forces across England and Wales.
No response was received from Lincolnshire or North Yorkshire Police.
We asked how many SPOs each force had applied for since January 2020, how many SPOs had been rejected by the courts and how many had been accepted. We also asked how many orders were in the process of being heard by the courts.
Using police recorded crime and outcomes open data (available here), we analysed the number of stalking incidents recorded by each police force since 2015/16.
The latest data available covers the nine-month period between April 2020 and December 2020. We also used the same outcomes data to calculate a charge rate per year for every police force in England and Wales.
The data and background methodology released to partners are available here:
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Clive Ruggles - father of Alice Ruggles who was murdered by her stalker in 2017
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Lisa King - communications director at domestic violence charity Refuge
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Suky Bhaker - CEO of stalking charity the Suzy Lamplugh Trust
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Katy Bourne - Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner and stalking victim
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Home office comment
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The National Police Chief's Council comment
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Comments from police forces who hadn’t issued any SPOs before the date specified in column G of our spreadsheet:
- Humberside
- Thames Valley
- Dorset
- Suffolk
The Shared Data Unit makes data journalism available to the wider news industry as part of the BBC Local News Partnership. Stories written by partners based on this research included:
- Bradford Telegraph & Argus: Concerns over low use of Stalking Protection Orders in West Yorkshire 17 June 2021
- Cambridgeshire Live: Cambs police not using extra powers to help stalking victims, new data shows 22 June 2021
- Cheshire Live: Powers to protect stalking victims not being used in Cheshire, figures show 21 June 2021
- Denbighshire Free Press: More than 1,200 reports of stalking to North Wales Police in 2020 26 June 2021
- Derby Telegraph: Huge increase in stalking across Derby and Derbyshire 15 June 2021
- Devon Live: Police 'could do better' to help increasing number of stalking victims in Devon 15 June 2021
- Dorset Echo: Dorset Police 'not doing enough' to protect stalking victims 15 June 2021
- East Anglian Daily Time 'I was scared to go out': Stalking victim’s anger as police slow to use new powers 15 June 2021
- Eastern Daily Press: 'They did nothing' - Mum's anger after new anti-stalking powers not used 16 June 2021
- Gelding Eye: Stalking incidents rise rapidly across Notts 16 June 2021
- Hampshire Chronicle: Hampshire police fail to use special powers to crack down on stalking 15 June 2021
- Huddersfield Daily Examiner: Reports of stalking in South Yorkshire increased by almost 30 percent during last year's lockdowns 15 June 2021
- Ipswich Star: 'I was scared to go out': Stalking victim’s anger as police slow to use new powers 15 June 2021
- ITV Tyne Tees: North East police forces used Stalking Protection Orders only 10 times despite incidents rising 15 June 2021
- Lancashire Telegraph: Lancashire: Police fail to use legal powers on over 2000 stalking cases 15 June 2021
- Northampton Chronicle: Northamptonshire Police has used new power to protect stalking victims just once amid a surge in offences 16 June 2021
- Portsmouth: The News: New police power to help stalking victims in Hampshire used just twice since inception 14 July 2021
- Southern Daily Echo: Hampshire police fail to use special powers to crack down on stalking 15 June 2021
- Suffolk News: Stalking Protection Orders not used once by police in Suffolk since January 2020, despite a 182 per cent rise in reports of stalking incidents in the county 15 June 2021
- Yorkshire Evening Post: West Yorkshire Police force issue just three stalking protection orders despite recording more than 3000 offences 15 June 2021
- Yorkshire Live: Reports of stalking in South Yorkshire increased by almost 30 percent during last year's lockdowns 15 June 2021
- Yorkshire Post: Thousands of stalking incidents reported to Yorkshire police last year but only small handful resulted in legal protection orders 15 June 2021
The story featured on the BBC font, home and UK pages. It was also used by regional BBC radio stations including:
- BBC Radio Humberside
- BBC Radio Somerset
- BBC Radio Kent
- BBC Radio Cornwall
- BBC Radio Devon
- BBC Radio Suffolk
- BBC Radio Nottingham
- BBC Radio Somerset
- BBC Radio Shropshire
- BBC Radio Merseyside
- BBC Radio Devon
- BBC Radio Wiltshire
- BBC Radio Bristol
- BBC Radio York
- BBC Radio Leeds
- BBC Radio Newcastle
- BBC Radio Kent
- BBC Radio Sussex
- BBC Radio Norfolk
- BBC Radio Berkshire
- BBC Radio Humberside
- BBC Radio Jersey
- BBC Radio Gloucestershire
- BBC Radio Essex
- BBC Radio Surrey
- BBC Radio London
BBC regional television channels including:
- South East Today
- South Today
- Look North
- BBC Wales
And BBC network radio programmes including:
- The World at One
- 6 Music
- News Channel
- Newsbeat
- Asian Network
- Radio2
- Woman’s Hour