New Resource Center Offers Stalking Awareness and Prevention Resources

• NCJ Number: 252586
• Author(s): Becky Lewis
• Date Published: January 2019
• Length: 10 pages
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Award: A proposal to operate the National Criminal Justice Technology Resource Center.

Annotation

On the occasion of National Stalking Awareness Month (January 2019), this article profiles the Stalking Prevention, Awareness, and Resource Center (SPARC) website, which was launched by the federal Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) on November 28, 2018 for the purpose of ensuring that first responders and other allied professionals have the specialized knowledge needed to identify and respond to the crime of stalking.

Abstract

Of the resources provided by SPARC, one section is tailored to law enforcement. This section includes resource documents and a link to information on training specific to law enforcement. One aspect of the training pertains to guiding stalking victims in keeping a journal of stalking incidents that have occurred. Because stalking often happens in multiple jurisdictions, this victim journal of incidents enables a responding officer to determine whether there may be reports at other law enforcement agencies. The section on “Response Tips” is a brief document that agencies can share with officers during roll-call training. It reminds officers of key information that is important in stalking investigations. In addition to providing in-person training in various issues related to stalking investigations, SPARC also provides two self-contained training modules that can be downloaded and used by anyone. In addition, SPARC provides resources for stalking victims, victim service providers, and prosecutors. Access to the website is provided in this article.