County Lines Training Tutorials PDF

County Lines Training Tutorials Working in conjuction with Equo. Equo is a trading name of Inclu Consulting Ltd What is County Lines? County Lines is where illegal drugs are transported from one area to another, often across police and local authority boundaries (although not exclusive...

County Lines Training Tutorials Working in conjuction with Equo. Equo is a trading name of Inclu Consulting Ltd What is County Lines? County Lines is where illegal drugs are transported from one area to another, often across police and local authority boundaries (although not exclusively), usually by children or vulnerable people who are groomed by older or influential people. The 'County Line' will manage the drugs sales by phone, the mobile phone line used to take the orders of drugs. Importing areas (areas where the drugs are taken to) are reporting increased levels of violence and weapons-related crimes as a result of this trend. Exploitation of young and vulnerable people A common feature in county lines drug supply is the exploitation of young and vulnerable people. Dealers will frequently target children and adults - often with mental health or addiction problems - to act as drug runners or move cash so they can stay under the radar of law enforcement. Copyright © 2010 – 2021. Inclu Consulting Ltd. No part of this document may be reproduced in any format without the prior written permission of Inclu Consulting Ltd. The dealers will take over a local property, normally belonging to a vulnerable person, and use it to operate their criminal activity from. This practice is known as cuckooing. They use the property as a base, as there are sometimes signs this is taking place; high traffic of people visiting the property, increased noise/litter outside – which may at the beginning be identified as Anti-Social Behaviour. People exploited in this way will quite often be exposed to physical, mental and sexual abuse, and in some instances will be trafficked to areas a long way from home as part of the network's drug dealing business. As we have seen in child sexual exploitation, children often don't see themselves as victims or realise they have been groomed to get involved in criminality. There are four stages in grooming: 1. Target 2. Friendship 3. Loving 4. Abuse It's important that we all play our part to understand County Lines and speak out if we have concerns. What does that mean? You may hear different words and phrases used and the following will help you... Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are stressful events occurring in childhood and can include some or all of the following: o domestic violence; o parental abandonment through separation or divorce; o a parent with a mental health condition; o being the victim of abuse (physical, sexual and/or emotional); o being the victim of neglect (physical and emotional); o a member of the household being in prison; o growing up in a household in which there are adults experiencing alcohol and drug use problems. County Line - a crime network using young people to move drugs between counties using a phone line; Plugging – when a person hides drugs or packages in their anus or vagina; Cuckooing - taking over the home of a vulnerable person in order to use it as a base for drug dealing; Gang – a gang can consist of 3 or more people. Copyright © 2010 – 2021. Inclu Consulting Ltd. No part of this document may be reproduced in any format without the prior written permission of Inclu Consulting Ltd. Is this happening in Kent? Yes. As a taxi or private hire driver here in Kent you may have fares that are young people. This isn't necessarily a sign of County Lines activity but if it's also linked with any of the following then this could be an indication of County Lines/Gang activity. Here are some signs to look out for: Young people seen in different taxis; Young people seeming unfamiliar with your community or where they are; Unexplained, sometimes unaffordable new things (e.g clothes, jewellery, cars etc); Unexplained injuries; An increase in visitors and cars to a house or flat; New faces appearing at the house or flat; New and regularly changing residents (e.g different accents compared to local accent; Change in resident's mood and/or demeanour (e.g. secretive/ withdrawn/ aggressive/ emotional); Substance misuse and/or drug paraphernalia; Changes in the way young people you might know dress; Residents or young people you know going missing, maybe for long periods of time; Truancy, exclusion, disengagement from school; An increase in anti-social behaviour in the community. If you have concerns, here's what you should do... This is also covered in the Child Sexual Exploitation / Safeguarding training - the best advice is to trust your instincts. Even if someone isn't involved in county lines drug dealing, they may be being exploited in some other way, so you should always report your concerns. You can speak to your local police by dialling 101, or in an emergency 999; Copyright © 2010 – 2021. Inclu Consulting Ltd. No part of this document may be reproduced in any format without the prior written permission of Inclu Consulting Ltd.  If you would rather remain anonymous, you can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111; If you notice something linked to the railways, you can report concerns to the British Transport Police by texting 61016 from your mobile. In an emergency dial 999. If you know a young person who is worried about their involvement, or a friend's involvement in county lines then here's some advice: Suggest that they speak to an adult they trust and talk to them about their concerns. They can call Childline on 0800 1111. Specially trained counsellors offer a private and confidential service so the young person can speak to them about anything that is worrying them. Catch 22 works with children and young people of any age to help get them out of situations they're worried about. The Catch 22 team have helped many children and young people involved in County Lines. St Giles Trust offers specialist services to help young people make a safe and sustained exit from county line involvement. Caseworkers offer both practical and emotional support to the young person and their family to help address any issue which might be driving county line involvement. They were involved in the first ever Home Office funded specialist county lines intervention pilot project in Kent which started in 2017. It helped over 80% of the young people it supported either fully exit or make progress towards exiting county lines involvement. How are the Police dealing with County Lines? This is a priority for Police forces and law enforcement agencies across the UK. Gangs and County Lines features on the Kent Police Control Strategy, which also forms part of the Kent Police MVVP (Mission, Vision, Value, Priorities). They have been increasing their level of response, identifying and then taking the necessary action where the greatest problems exist. Please play your part too. Your vigilance could be vital in ensuring the safety of a vulnerable child or adult. Copyright © 2010 – 2021. Inclu Consulting Ltd. No part of this document may be reproduced in any format without the prior written permission of Inclu Consulting Ltd. Courier Fraud In recent months a number of incidents have occurred within Kent in which elderly and vulnerable members of our community have been the victim of Fraud. The method used by the criminals is as follows: Elderly and vulnerable victims receive a telephone call on their landline or mobile from a 'Voice' purporting to be a Police Officer; This 'Voice' is a criminal who proceeds to inform the victim of fraudulent activity on their bank account and that their bank staff are involved; The Voice then directs the victim to attend their local bank to withdraw a large amount of cash and to return home where it will be collected by a Police Courier for examination; The Victims often use a local Taxi for this journey to and from the bank; A Courier who is, of course, one of the criminals who then attends the victims address and collects the cash. Additionally, we have seen variations of this, where Taxi drivers have also been hired by criminals to collect packages from elderly vulnerable victims for delivery to the criminals (often in London), which may be money, gold or credit cards. Criminals may also attend local Train stations local to where the victim lives and hire the first available taxi in the outside rank. The Courier then directs the taxi to the victim's address and they are instructed to wait as they attended the front door. The Courier then returned to the taxi after only a few minutes (usually carrying a package) and return to the train station where they board the next London bound train. Your assistance is needed to help combat this crime that targets the vulnerable and elderly members of our community. Drivers are asked to be vigilant of such journeys to and from local train stations by potential Couriers or being asked to collect packages from elderly vulnerable people for delivery to a location elsewhere; If suspicious, contact Police quoting, "I am Nine, Nine."; If a suspected Courier is collected as a passenger then Taxi drivers are requested to call the Police on 999 and quote "I am Nine, Nine" passing their taxi registration, location and destination. The relevant Force control room will immediately recognise this as a Courier Fraud and deploy the appropriate resource and response; Copyright © 2010 – 2021. Inclu Consulting Ltd. No part of this document may be reproduced in any format without the prior written permission of Inclu Consulting Ltd.  Taxi drivers are also asked to raise awareness amongst their everyday elderly passengers and to also consider unusual repeat fares to local banks. Should such fares be identified then taxi drivers are again requested to contact Police quoting "I am Nine, Nine."; This code is only to be used for suspected frauds and not for any other crimes, like fares making off etc. Copyright © 2010 – 2021. Inclu Consulting Ltd. No part of this document may be reproduced in any format without the prior written permission of Inclu Consulting Ltd.