COUNTY LINES
SAVE THE CHILDREN
Mark Richardson / Alamy
While the county lines‘ business model’ may be starting to shift, its impact on young people remains just as devastating. DDN reports
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report from the National Police Chiefs’ Council’ s( NPCC) National County Lines Coordination Centre( NCLCC) late last year found that the traditional county lines business model was changing, with activity now starting to become much more localised( https:// www. drinkanddrugsnews. com / county-lines-becomingmore-localised-say-police /). A 12 per cent drop in‘ external lines’ – activity that crossed a policy force boundary – was accompanied by a significant increase in lines that began and ended within a single force’ s boundary.
The NCLCC estimates that there are almost 1,500 organised crime groups linked to county lines activity, which continues to be dominated by street or‘ burner’ phone sales of crack or heroin. Despite a perceived drop in the number of children involved, the basic county lines model still involves widespread child criminal exploitation as well as child sexual exploitation. The Home Office estimates that around 14,500 children were identified as at risk of, or involved in, child criminal exploitation last year.‘ We know this is likely to be a significant underestimate,’ it acknowledges.
EXTREME VIOLENCE Transporting drugs, or selling drugs directly to customers, puts children‘ in the most dangerous role within the supply chain’, says the NCLCC –‘ possessing valuable cash and commodity that other criminals may seek to steal, and with potential for violent conflict linked to the drugs operations, particularly over territory.’ The stark reality of the situation was highlighted in a harrowing 2021 report from the University of Nottingham, which described how county lines activity was becoming characterised by more and more extreme violence and sexual exploitation( DDN, July / August 2021, page 5), with young people often controlled through the harbouring of sexually explicit images, along with widespread sexual abuse of both females and males
The Youth Justice Board’ s( YJB) Serious incidents report from earlier this year also highlighted the fact that children involved in serious incidents are often the victims of the‘ challenging circumstances in which they live’. While this didn’ t‘ diminish the significant impact that these children can have on others’, said the board’ s CEO Stephanie
Roberts-Bibby, it did underscore the need to‘ address their vulnerabilities and exploitation, and to ensure effective early intervention to safeguard them from harm’.
There were almost 440 serious incidents notified to the board in 2023-24, involving nearly 550 children, and more
County lines activity is becoming characterised by more and more extreme violence and sexual exploitation.
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