In ‘County Lines’ drugs networks, children as young as 12 are groomed and exploited by older gang members in urban areas to transport and sell class A drugs in seaside towns and market towns, often at great distances from home. Children involved in County lines are victims of trafficking and modern day slavery, yet often they do not believe themselves to be victims until it is far too late.
The aim of my project is to find new ways to prevent and disrupt the exploitation of vulnerable children in County Lines Drugs networks, by forming an alliance between the urban council I represent as a local councillor, Islington, with Medway Council in Kent, an area that has struggled with an influx of County Lines.
We believe that by sharing our knowledge and experience from both ends of the ‘lines’ as well as our analytical techniques, we will able to identify the enabling factors that allow County Lines to proliferate. I will then produce a tool kit for other local authorities with local actions they can take but also produce a report with concrete policy recommendations for central government.
I would welcome input from fellows with experience and expertise in criminology, child protection and education, mobile phone technology and educational exclusion.
Project Team
