In 2016/17, HMIC and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI) carried out the first inspection into the police and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS)’s response to harassment and stalking crimes.
Harassment and stalking are crimes of persistence. It is the unrelenting repeat behaviour by the perpetrator experienced in its totality, which seems inescapable and inevitable, that has such a detrimental effect on the victim.
The inspection findings are set out in the report below.