Just where do we Key dates County lines crime is increasing and young people are getting sucked At the start of 2020 The
Guardian broke a story about
February 2019
A tabloid newspaper reports that
Cleveland Police had encountered
how county lines drug dealers had
infiltrated a UK university.
Members of county line gangs
were posing as students in Bangor
to sell class A drugs, reported
the newspaper.
While the news may have
shocked the public it merely
confirmed what many local
authorities and the police already
suspected. The criminal gangs
behind these enterprises have taken
an increasingly sophisticated
approach to avoid police detection
as awareness of county lines drug
dealing has increased over the past
few years.
With the latest statistics from
the National Crime Agency
suggesting there are currently
nearly 2,000 ‘deal lines’ controlled
by criminal networks across the UK,
what – if anything – can employers
and HR directors do to help tackle
the problem?
Though the issue may not appear
to be something that employers can
do anything about, there are
essentially two fronts on which
HR can take the lead.
Young adults, many of whom
have just left school with little or no
qualifications, have been recruited
by these gangs. As a result, HR
departments potentially have a
significant role to play in tackling
this scourge. Mohammed Qasim,
visiting fellow at London School of
Economics’ Mannheim Centre
for Criminology, says: “The first job
a young person takes isn’t likely to
pay that much. So he or she is at risk
in particular areas of being enticed
by gangs to start operating as a
county lines dealer.
“But if that young person can see
a career path that goes somewhere
and that makes them think ‘I’ve
been working in this job for six
months but there’s a chance for me
to work my way up the career path’,
then that particular person would
be less likely to want quick money.
“Looking at it from a
vulnerability perspective, HR plays
a vital role and could potentially
support this young person and
guide them away from any county
lines involvement.”
The other key role HR can play is
training staff to identify vulnerable
people who might potentially be
preyed on by county lines gangs.
“County lines is ultimately an
issue of exploitation of young
people and the most vulnerable,”
says Emily van der Lely, county lines
lead at the charity Crimestoppers.
“HR departments have a
responsibility to review their
policies and procedures to ensure
staff and contractors are fully aware
of the signs to spot, and then how to
record and pass on that information.”
Some industry sectors are
potentially more exposed to
vulnerable people being caught up
in county lines gangs than others,
according to van der Lely.
“County lines crime happens
across transport, such as coaches,
minicabs and on the railway
network. It’s also commonplace
in short-term accommodation,”
she explains.
It’s a view shared by Tilia Lenz,
lecturer practitioner consultant for
the Pan-Dorset and Wiltshire Social
Work Teaching Partnership, based
at Bournemouth University.
“Those industries where you have
a more low-skilled and possibly
more transient workforce are where
you would potentially have a higher
level of risk around modern slavery,
and they would be even more at risk
of criminal exploitation,” she says.
“Where there is transition of
goods, people, money – whatever it
may be – county lines may be in
some shape or form influencing
those industries.”
Many affected industries are
already putting measures in place to
News and analysis County lines crime
County lines crime:
January 2019
Figures from the National Crime Agency
show the number of criminals using county
lines rose from 720 at the start of 2018
to around 2,000 by the start of 2019
a six-year-old child who was
believed to be the youngest victim
of county lines drugs gangs
May 2019
The National County Lines
Coordination Centre leads a
lines drugs gangs, with more
UK-wide crackdown on county
than 600 people arrested over
the course of a week
September 2019
London mayor Sadiq Khan claims police
young people to join county
cuts are causing more
lines gangs – he estimates
more than 4,000 have been
recruited in London alone
October 2019
The government announces plans to
spend £20 million to tackle the
problem of county lines drug networks
October 2019
UK-wide police operations to combat
county lines gangs see more than 700
people arrested and £400,000-worth of
drugs con scated in one week
January 2020
Nine members of a county lines drug
dealing gang, who couriered class A
drugs on a commercial scale between
Merseyside and Dorset, are jailed
January 2020
The policing watchdog for England
and Wales calls on the government
to consider introducing restrictions
on pay-as-you-go mobile phones
to help crack down on drug
gangs who rely on them to
support their activities
12 HR February 2020 hrmagazine.co.uk
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