Norfolk Council has had great success in identifying and arresting criminals involved in county lines. But now the local community safety partnership is turning its attention to doing more work on early intervention and prevention. This case study is an example of how councils are tackling youth violence.
The challenge
Norfolk is just two hours away from London by car or train. As county lines started to emerge across the UK, the area found itself being targeted.
Within a few years a whole network of criminal activity had spread into the county. There are believed to be around 20 lines in operation with recorded crimes rising by over 10 per cent a year.
Meanwhile, the number of blade injuries at Norfolk hospitals jumped by 25 per cent over three years.
The solution
Norfolk constabulary and its partners have worked to disrupt and prevent drug dealing and organised crime over the last two years.
This has been done through Operation Gravity, which was launched in December 2016. It has been led by a multi-agency gold command team involving key personnel from the police, councils and health, which has worked closely with the Metropolitan Police and National Crime Agency.
By sharing intelligence they have been able to target and identify individuals involved and the places where criminal activity is taking place.
It has required close working with communities and visiting vulnerable people subjected to violence by these gangs.
This has led to a series of raids on premises and arrests. These have tended to be done in coordinated short bursts. For example, over one weekend in October 2018, 22 arrests were made and large quantities of heroin and weapons seized.
Norfolk has also focused efforts on raising awareness about the issue by working in schools. The Safer Schools Partnership has organised a play that has toured local secondary schools across the county educating young people about the risks and consequences of crime.
The performance explores cases where young people have been exploited and used to transport drugs and urges anyone who may know of someone at risk to come forward. It has been delivered to more than 60 schools so far.
The impact
By autumn 2018, police had arrested 750 people as part of Operation Gravity. Around a fifth of the arrests were young people under the age of 18.
Deputy Chief Constable Paul Sanford believes the operation has been a great success. “When we launched Operation Gravity we made it clear that Norfolk was not open for business for illegal drug activity and the message remains the same.
“We have been overwhelmed by the public support – and whilst it has led to more reports of illegal drug activity and knife crime in the county – it has enabled us to take action where it is needed.”
But he added the force has had to take a proportionate approach to bringing charges. “It is a sad fact that during this operation we have arrested a number of children in their late teens. Where it is appropriate, prosecutions do follow. However, on many occasions our focus has been on protecting the child and preventing their further exploitation.”
This has led the police to work closely with the council’s youth offending team and social services to provide support to young people who have been exploited.
Lessons learned
The success of Operation Gravity has also highlighted the scale of the challenge facing the authorities.
Norfolk’s youth offending team know of over 100 young people who are strongly suspected of being involved or at risk of criminal exploitation. Meanwhile, the number of children ‘missing’ – in that authorities have lost track of where they are – has risen by 80 per cent since 2015 and is now around 1,000.
Norfolk Community Safety Partnership Business Manager Jon Shalom said: “It is clear that there is a lot to do. We have had great success on the enforcement side, but now we want to do more in terms of early intervention and prevention, building on some of the work that has happened in schools.
“I think one of the key things that has become apparent is the need to have someone to coordinate this work. It is something we did with the Prevent agenda and we believe it could help us achieve things again so that is something we are looking at.
“There is quite a significant crossover with the two programmes in terms of trying to engage and protect vulnerable young people. I think learning from Prevent is something that can help.”
How is the approach being sustained?
Norfolk’s Community Safety Partnership has made county lines one of its three key priorities going forward. A task and finish group has been established to bring partners together and a county lines strategy has been developed.
The creation of a multi-agency child exploitation (MACE) team is being seen as central to the future work. It will have input from the youth offending team, children’s services, public health, the police and voluntary sector.
The aim is to create a single referral and assessment process that will ensure victims of exploitation, including county lines, receive the support they need.
The partnership has successfully applied for funding with £700,000 awarded from the Government’s Early Intervention Youth Fund. This will help fund a number of initiatives including developing a detached youth work team and the addition of family support workers for the MACE team.
There will also be a programme of awareness-raising and investment in alternative pathways to provide positive educational experiences, training and employment opportunities to de-incentivise participation in criminal activity.
Contact
Jon Shalom
Norfolk Community Safety Partnership Business Manager, Norfolk County Council
[email protected]