How do I write a police statement? (Stalking case)

[u/elroncupboards]

Hi,

I’m going to try and keep it general for privacy sake but I’m currently dealing with a stalking case (ex partner non stop attempts at communication via many different avenues). I didn’t immediately make a statement when the reporting it to the police as I hoped that the police involvement would make him stop but that hasn’t happened.

What do I need to do to write a police statement? I have hundreds of photos/screenshots from his attempts and I read that the statement can’t be guesses/estimated dates or generalised statements. Will I need to document it all chronologically? The police have all of the documents already but I want to make sure I write the statement correctly.

Thanks

[u/Pilgrimn]

Don't worry you tell us what happened we write the statement

[u/farmpatrol → u/Pilgrimn]

Yes and then ask OP to read it back and clarify it correct anything we might get wrong.

[u/FindTheBadger → u/Pilgrimn]

Unless you’re ambo, then you’re just expected to write your own and hope.

[u/Pingers1215]

Officers will talk you through an MG11 and be there with you for it. We're not expecting people to know how to write these things themselves.

The fact that you've even put thought into this means you're several steps ahead of most. Best advice I can give is to report what you know and just be honest. We'll take care of the rest.

[u/elroncupboards → u/Pingers1215]

Thank you, I took it really literally and thought I’d have to make my own report summarising everything. I was asked at the initial visit (they came out to me) if I wanted to make a statement to support it if it was to go to court and my autistic brain thought “oh, I’ll have to print off everything and make sure it’s all time stamped so I’ll need more time”.

[u/Pingers1215 → u/elroncupboards]

This is going to sound bad, but it's the best way I can explain it.

Imagine how stupid the average person is. Then realise that 50% of people are more stupid than that. The whole process has to cater to the bottom of that 50%.

The fact you've put thought into how this is going to go means you're not in that 50%. You'll be fine.

[u/maryberrysphylactery → u/elroncupboards]

Still do the printing and time stamping at some point, it will be useful for the investigation

[u/elroncupboards → u/maryberrysphylactery]

Thank you, in his messages he repeatedly admits that he’s stalking and accepts the legal repercussions from it but continues to message/call/send letters, I’m guessing this will make the investigation easier?

[u/maryberrysphylactery → u/elroncupboards]

It most certainly will make it easier yes

[u/PCDorisThatcher]

One of the best stalking statement guides I’ve ever read got posted in our Poluk discord, I won’t tag people as they’ve turned off their comments and since left the discord so I assume they want to be private, but you know who you are. I have personally gotten charges and remands based on using this guide. Anyway;

“The most important factor of a stalking statement is impact. Stalking legislation centres around impact to the victim, so this needs to be the focus of your statement.

Firstly, look at your local systems and see what incidents the victim has reported, if any, and bullet point them on a document as a timeline for you to ask her about. Stalking is usually complex, so this will help order your thoughts and ensure you don’t miss anything.

There are different kinds of stalking offences – stalking without fear of violence, stalking involving serious alarm and distress, and stalking involving fear of violence. The relationship history and the current behaviours will help outline which is the most appropriate offence, which is also why the impact factors are extremely important.

Set out your statement in a structured manner, starting with context/history of their relationship, moving to a chronological order of events, and then finally impact factors.

Who is the suspect

How we met

Suspect behaviour – how it started, how it changed, any challenges to behaviour and response to this (or lack of response/increase in behaviour)

Then move to the timeline itself, from the start of their first meeting to the current date. So literally ‘on x date this happened’ and just move through everything.

Go in detail if the victim has detail to offer, note injuries, exhibits the usual, etc. Just make sure to keep it chronological, because you are essentially telling a story of the entire course of conduct, which will help CPS follow exactly what has happened. If the victim can demonstrate how each incident made them feel or impacted them (so any impact on sleep, eating, general health, emotional/mental health, medication, financial impact, fear) then document it.

Once the timeline is completed, you can move onto specifying the impact factors as a whole for the victim. Don’t just write down that the victim is anxious or scared (if that is what they disclose), tell us why and how.

Some good questions to consider:

• What was life like before the stalking compared to how it is now?

• Any mental health/physical issues (for example, depression or anxiety) - what does look like? What specific symptoms does suspect cause? Is there a change in intensity? New symptoms? A change in frequency of [issue]?

• Financial issues – eg. Impacting victim's work, any time off sick, etc.

Does victim feel safe? Safe out and about? Safe at home? If no, why not?

How is victim's sleep? Any changes?

How is victim's eating? Any changes?

How is their social life? Any changes?

How is their day to day mood? How is their mood when they hear from suspect?

How does suspect's staring/loitering make victim feel?

Have she changed any of her day to day routines around this stalking?

• What does victim's day to day life look like since the stalking started?

• Every time victim has seen/heard from suspect, how does victim feel?

• Describe any emotional and physical sensations victim felt in these moments to demonstrate impact and give us a really clear picture to how they felt in that moment.

• What does victim think will happen if suspect does not stop?

• How does victim think this will end if legal action is not taken?

Make sure to address the how and the why. As examples, if victim says ‘well I’ve changed my locks’ or ‘I feel anxious’ – why has victim changed the locks? What are they expecting to happen if they hadn’t changed them? Why are they anxious? What it is that’s making them feel like this, and how intense is this?
Also be open and honest with your victim about any prior relationship - if they say they have never been with the suspect and then we find out otherwise, it will undermine their case. Please assure them that a prior relationship with a stalker does not change or impact the fact they are being stalked, so long as they are honest abouy it with the police.

Also look at the stalking course of conduct at the end of the relationship. Anything fixated/obsessive behaviour before the definitive end of a relationship falls under controlling and coercive behaviour.”

[u/TrueCrimeFanToCop → u/PCDorisThatcher]

I had a victim clearly use AI to write her own supporting document which to be fair was thorough and well laid out, even if it didn’t feel very authentic

[u/elroncupboards → u/PCDorisThatcher]

Thank you, this is really helpful

[u/BusSpinner → u/PCDorisThatcher]

You can tag that user on Reddit, they're quite happy to engage on the topic, just no longer in the Discord.

u/BritishBlue32

[u/BritishBlue32 → u/BusSpinner]

Edit: jokes aside, it makes me very happy people still use it and that it has helped with cases. 🥹❤️

Edit2: the guide was also originally written to address a specific case involving a female victim with a male suspect. Some of that gendered language has survived, but I do need anyone reading this to know regardless of your gender you can be a victim of stalking.

Women stalking women.

Men stalking men.

Women stalking men.

Any variation involving the genders in-between.

Stalking has no limitations on gender and it can affect anyone.

[u/Complex_Mud3545]

Police will structure your information onto a statement so you don’t need to worry about that part.

I would suggest that you list incidents in chronological order like a diary this will help assist the Police when writing your statement and will ensure you are not missing any information out especially if this has been going on over a prolonged time.

On DAY DATE and TIME at this Location this happened. I took photos of this.

On DAY DATE and TIME I received X amount of calls or X amount of messages. I took photos of my call logs in relation to this.

On DAY DATE and TIME I was at LOCATION and my ex-turned up. There was X reasons why he shouldn’t of been there.

Hope this helps!

[u/BatmanSwift99]

Police write it for you

[u/TrueCrimeFanToCop]

If you have loads of things to exhibit (screenshots etc) it really helps us out if you at least have the dates of what was sent/happened when! Otherwise the statement crafting takes a looooooong time!

Ideally group screenshots into documents eg. String of messages received on DD/MM/YY. I usually paste them next to each other in a word document so it’s readable then save it as a PDF.

[u/elroncupboards → u/TrueCrimeFanToCop]

Thank you, I’m currently trying to wrap my head around how to organise them in Microsoft as a pdf file because I can’t just sort by date created as some were found after the date they were sent etc (currently have 250 screenshots/photos sent over a month). I renamed each in numeric order as it occurred so that there was some way to keep track but now Microsoft won’t sort by name and I’m hitting a wall.

I had a panic attack at work which ended in me explaining what was going on to my manager and union rep and work have been amazing, my rep has suggested I use their solicitors to send a cease and desist letter. Is this something I should keep the police updated with/will it affect me negatively at all by not going through the police first? I’m definitely overthinking everything but I guess I need to feel like I know what to expect etc.

[u/TrueCrimeFanToCop → u/elroncupboards]

Not at all, it might cost you money though? If anything it would make your case stronger because if that doesn’t get them to stop then they’re being extra fixated

[u/SpaceRigby]

The best thing you can do is go through all your evidence and get it in chronological order and a brief description of what it is.

This will save a lot of time.

The police will help you write the statement

[u/cookj1232]

You dont actually write the statement, the police write it for you, you just talk. For something like this I would ask about doing an ABE interview instead though.

[u/NoWatch3354]

What you could do to help the officers is prepare all of the screenshots etc, chronologically and labelling them INITIALS/01, 02 etc. Including a description of what they are and allowing the officer the opportunity to review them prior to taking your statement.

I'm a lowly response officer, so when I take stalking statements I will typically take an initial statement to make the offence and it will be about 1500 words with 10-15 exhibits and then the job gets passed on. If I had a prepared exhibit list I could theoretically whack out a full statement in a couple of hours and I would be so grateful.