Despite the growing body of scholarship on stalking victimization, the criminal justice system's response has been substantially understudied. Although scholars consider stalking to be a significant issue, its prevalence is not echoed in official data representing stalking arrests and convictions. The disparity between prevalence estimates and official data reinforces a "dark figure" of stalking that warrants further examination. To develop a better understanding of underreporting and/or underrecording, this exploratory study used official data from the Houston Police Department to examine police response to stalking. Findings indicated that, compared with other interpersonal crimes, incidents of stalking are dramatically underrecorded. Over an 8-year period, there were a total of 3,756 stalking calls for service, 66 stalking-related incident reports, and only 12 arrests for stalking. However, not one of the stalking calls for service generated a stalking-related incident report nor an arrest for stalking. Of the stalking calls for service that did generate an incident report, the large majority of the reports were classified as either harassment or a violation of a protective order. Furthermore, incident reports and arrests for stalking generally emerged from calls for service for harassment or terroristic threats. Implications for research and policy are discussed.

The current study used quantitative and qualitative responses from 250 forensic interviewers (FIs) in the United States to examine predictors of burnout and personal coping mechanisms. Findings indicated that burnout was primarily driven by work-related factors including frequently feeling overwhelmed with job-related duties, inadequate organizational support, and direct exposure to graphic materials involving children. Moreover, having a higher degree of compassion satisfaction and being non-White significantly mitigated symptoms of burnout. Qualitative findings indicated that FIs regularly experienced varied and personalized feelings of burnout and utilized a variety of coping methods to combat their stressors. FIs in this study also made individual suggestions regarding how their respective agencies can assist in the coping process. Policy implications are discussed.

Using data from the Chicago Women’s Health Risk Study (N = 464), this study examined the intersection of stalking and the severity of intimate partner abuse while controlling for previously identified risk factors of intimate partner homicide. Findings indicate that (a) victims of life-threatening abuse by an intimate partner were significantly more likely toexperience stalking than victims of nonlethal abuse; (b) after controlling for key risk factors, stalking increased the risk of life-threatening abuse; and (c) threats to kill the victim if she left was the only significant stalking-related behavior that increased the risk for life-threatening abuse. In addition, an offender’s prior record and a higher number of previous abusive incidents increased the risk of life-threatening abuse. Implications for prevention and future directions for research are discussed.

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Despite millions of stalking victims contacting the police each year, suspects are rarely arrested or prosecuted. While prosecutors are ultimately the gatekeepers to holding defendants accountable, few studies have examined the factors influencing charging decisions in stalking cases. Using the focal concerns perspective, this study analyzed 5 years of domestic violence and stalking case outcomes in Rhode Island. Findings indicated that prosecutors were more likely to prosecute stalking cases when defendants evoked fear in the victim and pursued victims in public. The decision to prosecute stalking versus other domestic violence–related charges was motivated by the location of the offense and the defendant’s history of physical abuse toward the victim. Neither extralegal factors nor characteristics of blameworthiness or suspect culpability influenced prosecutorial decision making. Findings underscore the legal complexities of stalking and suggest the need for additional insight on prosecutorial perspectives and strategies to articulate the fear standard in stalking cases.