Met response following an investigation into a national stalking complaint

Following an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct, His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services and the College of Policing into a complaint made about the national police response to stalking, we have committed to informing the public on what the Met is doing to tackle stalking.

As part of this all police services in England and Wales were asked to update on the improvements of their response on stalking against the complaint’s recommendations.

As part of our A New Met for London strategy, we are determined to do all we can to ensure women and girls, who are the primary victims of stalking, to ensure they feel safe wherever they are.

Stalking is a terrifying and invasive crime which has a profound impact on victim-survivors and the Met is working hard to transform the way we protect the public from harm with victims at the heart of all we do.

We have already made good progress.

The Met is the lead agency in London’s Stalking Threat Assessment Centre (STAC), a multi-agency team of police, probation and health professionals, as well as the Suzy Lamplugh Trust. It is one of only four multi-agency stalking intervention programmes nationally and aims to reduce reoffending in stalkers and improve outcomes for victims.  

The Met is committed to investing resource into the STAC. Since 2023, we have approved plans to triple the size of the police team in this unit, and we have significantly increased the number of Stalking Protection Orders, as our response to stalking continues to improve and affording vital protections to victims of stalking.   

We are using technology and specialist crime techniques to investigate offences as well as developing stalking specific training for officers and staff, and the wider criminal justice system. This training was designed by stalking experts from St Mary's University in London in collaboration with us and other partners, as well as input from data scientists. It aims to address how to identify stalking behaviours, which will ultimately help us catch perpetrators and give us the tools to a give a victim the support they need.

As well as training officers and staff, we are also working with local authorities to roll out advice and guidance on stalking to schools across London. By educating children on how to spot the signs of stalking, we can help increase reporting, and support being offered at an earlier stage.

We understand the impact that this insidious crime has on its victims, and the severity of it as an offence.

We remain committed to work collaboratively with our partners, to give us the tools to help us identify stalking whilst safeguarding victims, who remain at the heart of our investigations, throughout.

If you are a victim of stalking report online or call 101, or call 999 in an emergency.