Stalking Behavior and Crisis Negotiation

Abstract

ABSTRACT The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of stalking behavior and its impact upon some hostage and barricaded subject situations. Specific statistics are lacking about the frequency of stalking behavior in hostage/barricade scenarios; however, anecdotal evidence and indirect measures suggest that stalking behavior occurs as an antecedent with enough frequency to warrant attention to the phenomenon. For example, recent HOBAS data (FBI, December 9, 2002) pertaining to 3,547 subjects indicated that a current or prior restraining order was in effect in nearly eight percent of the situations and that the victim was a current or former spouse or significant other in nearly 19 percent of the situations where there was a victim (N = 934). Such statistics imply that stalking may be a fairly common background dynamic preceding and contributing to the development of hostage/barricade cases.