Preventive justice and the policing of stalking in the UK: a mixed-methods study of Stalking Protection Orders

Stalking is a significant problem, impacting 14.7% of people aged 16 and over in England and Wales in the year ending March 2024. Despite widespread recognition that stalking is a serious and harmful crime, conviction rates for stalking are vanishing, reaching just 1.7% in the year ending March 2023. In January 2020, the government introduced Stalking Protection Orders (SPOs), in the latest move in a growing trend towards adopting civil measures to enable police to respond more effectively to apparently intractable kinds of crime. These allow police to intervene earlier in stalking cases by imposing restrictions on stalkers’ movements and communications, as well as positive requirements such as attending intervention programmes. Breaching an SPO is a criminal offence that carries penalties of up to five years in prison. This study is the first to situate SPOs within the preventive turn in criminal law and the use of hybrid civil-criminal measures. It examines how SPOs are utilised by the police and courts. To do so, qualitative data on using SPOs were gathered through semi-structured interviews with practitioners working in the police, legal, advocacy and victim support services. Quantitative data on SPO applications, court grants, and breaches were also collected. The findings indicate that while SPOs are a beneficial tool when implemented appropriately, several barriers hinder their effectiveness. These include a lack of awareness about SPOs among police officers and a time-consuming application process. The full potential of SPOs is not being realised, highlighting the need for increased efforts by police to apply for these orders to enhance the policing of stalking cases. Breaches of SPOs have not replaced criminal proceedings for stalking, but are often overshadowed by orders like restraining orders. These findings indicate that systemic reform is needed to ensure that protective legal tools such as SPOs operate successfully.