Stalking is a serious crime involving a course of repeated conduct that frightens, threatens, or harasses the victim. Despite growing scholarly attention, the criminal justice system response to stalking has been understudied. Prior research suggests that stalking, like other interpersonal crimes (i.e., sexual assault, domestic violence) is underreported; however, stalking cases are also inconsistently classified and managed by law enforcement (Brady & Nobles, 2017). This exploratory study used official court data from Houston, Texas to examine trends in stalking cases relative to two major revisions of Texas anti-stalking statutes. Results demonstrate that trends in arrests with intent to prosecute were stable over time and that very few cases of stalking were prosecuted in this jurisdiction during any given year, even as a comparison trend for the broader category of harassment charges showed escalation over time, consistent with population growth and other extra-legal influences. These findings suggest that stalking cases remain rarely prosecuted despite increasing awareness and provisions for enhanced penalties under Texas law. Implications for research and policy are discussed.

缠扰行为是一种严重的犯罪行为，涉及到反复的行为，会吓,、威胁或骚扰受害者。尽管学术界越来越重视，但对刑事司法制度对跟踪行为的反应却未得到充分研究。先前的研究表明，跟其他人际关系犯罪（例如性侵犯，家庭暴力）一样，缠扰行为被低估了。但是，缠扰行为的案件也由执法部门不一致地进行分类和管理（布雷迪与贵族（Brady＆Nobles，2017）。这项探索性研究使用了得克萨斯州休斯敦的官方法院数据来检查相对于德克萨斯州反跟踪法规的两个主要修订而言的跟踪案例的趋势。结果表明，意图起诉的逮捕趋势在一段时间内是稳定的，并且在任何一年中，在该辖区几乎没有起诉缠扰者的案件，即使更广泛的骚扰指控类别的比较趋势显示，随着时间的推移，这种趋势也在逐步升级，与人口增长和其他法律外影响。这些发现表明，尽管人们对德克萨斯州法律的认识有所提高，并规定了加强处罚的规定，但缠扰者案件仍然很少受到起诉。讨论了对研究和政策的影响。