The State House of Representatives has adopted a resolution recognizing January as National Stalking Awareness Month. John Sattgast reports.
One in three women and one in six men have been stalked. Republican Representative Joel Kretz, the resolution’s sponsor, says it’s time to raise awareness of the adverse trauma caused to victims of stalking.
“We had the so-called police reform bills, passed here a couple of years ago, and made it much, much harder to investigate and prosecute these crimes. We’ve really degraded law enforcement’s ability to deal with these things – it’s much, much harder than it used to be. How can we help law enforcement get through some of the restrictions?”
The Stalking Prevention, Awareness and Resource Center reports three-out-of-four women murdered by an intimate partner were first stalked.
“It’s an incredibly invasive crime – it’s a real predictor towards violent crime – many, many cases it ends up in tragedies.”
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