Hampshire and Isle of Wight police officer discussing county lines drug dealing

Video: Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary

Transcript

00:00 Hi, my name is Chief Inspector Marcus Kennedy. I'm the drug-related crime and harm tactical

00:04 lead for Hampton Cross Jubbly and the Isle of Wight.

00:08 Can you tell me what a county line is?

00:10 So county lines are basically organised crime gangs who exploit vulnerable people to run

00:16 drugs across counties and across the country. And the line element, that county line, is

00:22 the phone network they use to deliver those drugs.

00:26 What threat does a county line bring to my town?

00:29 Right, so multiple threats. It can increase violence in the community as those gangs fight

00:34 over territory and drugs lines. Also it can bring weapon-based crimes to our communities.

00:39 But probably most importantly, it's the exploitation of young people and vulnerable individuals.

00:46 And what do they do to exploit those young people or vulnerable individuals?

00:50 So they will sometimes take over an address of a vulnerable individual and use that address

00:55 to deal drugs from. Or with young people, they will shower them with gifts to make them

01:00 feel wanted, but then actually exploit them to make them run drugs for them, sometimes

01:04 through fear and violence, which is just horrific.

01:09 What is Hampshire and the Isle of Wight Constabulary doing to tackle county lines?

01:13 Okay, so throughout the year, multiple operations targeting those county lines. But actually

01:18 last week, we had a focused week of action to target those county lines and to make sure

01:24 we can protect individuals being exploited. So significant arrests, over 50 arrests, significant

01:30 seizures of drugs, weapons and assets. But probably most importantly, over 10 children

01:35 were safeguarded as a result of our actions.

01:38 What can I do as a member of the public to help tackle county lines?

01:41 So this is really important. We need the help of our communities to tackle this issue. Do

01:46 you think all of a sudden a young person's got unaffordable, unexplained gifts or money?

01:51 That's suspicious. If you see an increase in antisocial behaviour in your community,

01:55 that could be county lines related. So what I would say there is, please contact us and

02:01 tell us. They can be done via 101, 909 and Emergency, or via Crimestoppers. And all of

02:07 this can be done anonymously.

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