Drug gangs changing their tactics in lockdown

AGENCIES ALSO HAVING TO ADAPT

THE ladies of St Winefrides will be holding a stall at Shepshed Market on December 18 from 8.30am selling homemade cakes, preserves and bric a brac, all proceeds for Rainbows hospice.

A spokesperson said: “Come and help us raise much needed funds for Rainbows.”

METHODS of delivery and payment for drugs changed during lockdown – and so did the work to prevent the trade, a report has found.

The Children’s Society and police’s East Midlands Special Operations Unit reported in September that a growing number of children were being recruited to work as runners for drug dealers, with police likening the youngsters’ role in the trade to working a paper round.

Children as young as 12 were being offered inducements such as cash and clothing to move drugs around their own neighbourhoods or, in some cases, in areas far from their homes, the two organisations said.

Interim findings of a study into the impact of Covid-19 on organised crime, by the University of Nottingham’s Rights Lab and De Montfort University School of Law, have now been published.

They include British Transport Policing reporting early disruption of such “county lines” activity because of reduced numbers of rail passengers.

The study said children continued to be identified far from their homes and with large quantities of cash or drugs.

There was a shift towards the use of victims who do not fit existing stereotypes, such as children from more affluent groups, plus girls, who are less likely to be picked up by police. Other findings included:

Police received increased intelligence from residential areas as more people were working from home;

Rising cases of online harm and abuse, with perpetrators using platforms such as Snapchat, Instagram and TikTok in the early stages of grooming for criminal exploitation;

Lockdown inhibited opportunities for face-to-face safeguarding and risk assessment, creating challenges for child protection services, the police, the courts and other frontline services;

Young people who did remain in regular contact with professionals were often much less comfortable in making disclosures over the telephone;

Some areas saw increased calls by parents to helplines because of homeworking arrangements which enabled them to spot behaviour that would otherwise go unnoticed.

The Rights Lab has found in the early stages of the spring lockdown, with the closure of the night-time economy and low usage of public transport, it was easier for authorities to spot children carrying cash and drugs.

However, there has since been a preference towards use of private and hired vehicles, with bulk deliveries to provincial areas.

Methods of delivery and payment have also adapted, for example, with dealers refusing to accept cash and using local children as runners rather than children from outside the area.

To avoid detection, gangs have also shifted to delivering in busy public areas, such as supermarket car parks, rather than from residential addresses.

Concern about possible Covid-19-related sanctions meant some parents were less comfortable in disclosing when their children went missing.

Other professionals said the number of missing vulnerable children soared as the effectiveness of safeguarding was cut.

Professor Dave Walsh, of De Montfort University Law School, said: “Young vulnerable people are being exploited and this research shows the pattern of offending is changing as criminals adapt to take advantage of the covid restrictions.

“Our ultimate aim to to help effect new practices for police and other professionals working to break up the county lines operators.”