Sussex Police Make 12,500 Stalking And Harassment Arrests In Five Years

Data shows that more than 2,000 arrests are made by Sussex Police every year.

Sussex Police made 12,534 arrests on charges of stalking or harassment between April 2019 and March 2024, logging more than 2,000 arrests every year.

This data, collected by criminal injury claim experts JF Law, has been revealed as the government unveiled plans to crack down on stalking.

Arrests for stalking or harassment, both of which are offences under The Protection from Harassment Act 1997, have risen over the past half-decade.

There were 2,434 arrests in 2019/20, a figure which rose to 2,547 the year after. While arrests fell to 2,313 in 2021/22, they then rose again to 2,348 in 2022/23. Detentions reached a five-year high in 2023/24, with 2,892 arrests logged.

In a concerning development, Sussex Police confirmed that 295 arrests for stalking or harassment were of offenders aged under 18.

The most represented age group in the arrest statistics were 31-35 year-olds (2,226 arrests), while 25-30 year-olds were arrested on 2,130 occasions.

No age group was unrepresented in the arrest figures, with Sussex Police taking in 175 people aged 71 or above between 2019 and 2024.

White Ribbon Day, an international campaign aimed at eliminating violence against women and girls, took place on November 25th this year.

The theme of this year’s campaign was ‘It Starts With Men’. In Sussex, 88.94% of those arrested for stalking, harassment or both between April 2019 and September 2024 were identified as male.

Also in November, Sussex Police joined other police forces in publishing an ‘action plan’ to act on a super complaint about police handling of stalking reports, which was raised two years previously by the Suzy Lamplugh Trust.

An independent investigation by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS), the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), and the College of Policing led to a series of recommendations.

In response to the recommendations, Sussex Police stated: “(A) Stalking and Harassment e-learning product is available to all our staff via the College of Policing portal. The current staff completion rate for this package is 91%.

“We currently have 142 stalking SPoC’s [Single Point of Contact officers] across the force who regularly receive training and updates via various platforms.

"Our 380 Domestic Abuse Champions receive regular continuous professional development which includes inputs on stalking.”

On December 3, the Home Office announced plans to roll out anti-stalking measures including the ‘Right to Know’ statutory guidance which will allow police to release an offender’s identity “at the earliest opportunity.”

The measures would also make Stalking Protection Orders (SPOs) more available, giving courts the ability to impose them directly when an offender is convicted.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said:

“We will use every tool available to us to give more power to victims and take it away from the hands of their abusers.

"This starts with empowering police to give women the right to know the identity of their online stalkers, strengthening stalking protection orders and ensuring that the police work with all support services to give victims the protection they deserve.”

The announcement also included a Home Office vow to publish data on stalking offences.

The data is not currently publicly available, while the Ministry of Justice did not respond to JF Law’s request to provide the latest data on SPOs.

12 years on from The Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 identifying stalking as an offence separate from harassment in law, there are still calls for further reform.

Claire Waxman OBE, London's Victims' Commissioner, said in November:

“I have lost faith that these laws are fit for purpose.

"Police are struggling to distinguish between stalking and harassment, leading to potentially dangerous offenders to get off with lighter sentences or evade justice completely.

“12 years on, I am calling for the Government to create a standalone stalking offence that provides a clear definition of stalking to simplify investigations and prosecutions and remove the onus on the victim to prove the impact of the behaviour and instead turn our focus on the stalkers and their behaviour.”

JF Law provides free, round-the-clock guidance for victims of violent crime who are considering seeking compensation for their injuries.

Guidance and consultation from their team of advisors can be accessed via their website, www.jflaw.co.uk, or by calling 0151 375 9916.