April 29, 2024
Timeline tool to raise stalker alarm
A forensic psychiatrist says a tougher laws and changes in police procedures are needed to provide an effective responsre to stalking.
The Independent Police Conduct Authority has criticised police for failing to take action on the complaints of a 21-year-old Auckland woman in the weeks before she was stabbed by a stalker.,
Justin Barry-Walsh works with police and says they are under-resourced, but more could be done.
Stalking happens in all communities, especially in relationship break-ups or when people get fixated on another person, but it can often look innocuous unless a pattern can be shown.
“My advice to people that are experiencing something they consider stalking is always to create a timeline so when they go to report it they can say ‘it’s this, this, this and this, it’s not just one text.’ That’s a much more powerful and significant thing to be reporting,” Dr Barry-Walsh says.