Covid-19 and child criminal exploitation in the UK: implications of the pandemic for county lines

Abstract

In March 2020, the UK was placed in lockdown following the spread of the Covid-19 virus. Just as legitimate workplaces made changes to enable their employees to work from home, the illicit drugs trade also made alternative arrangements, adapting its supply models to ensure continuity of operations. Based upon qualitative interviews with 46 practitioners, this paper assesses how front-line professionals have experienced and perceived the impact of Covid-19 on child criminal exploitation and County Lines drug supply in the UK. Throughout the paper, we highlight perceived adaptations to the County Lines supply model, the impact of lockdown restrictions on detection and law enforcement activities aimed at County Lines, and on efforts to safeguard children and young people from criminal exploitation. Our participants generally believed that the pandemic had induced shifts to County Lines that reflected an ongoing evolution of the drug supply model and changes in understanding or attention because of Covid-19 restrictions, rather than a complete reconstitution of the model itself. Practitioners perceived that Covid-19 has had, and continues to have, a significant impact on some young people’s vulnerability to exploitation, on the way in which police and frontline practitioners respond to County Lines and child criminal exploitation, and on the way illegal drugs are being moved and sold.

The unequal impact of Covid‐19 on the lives and rights of the children of modern slavery survivors, children in exploitation and children at risk of entering exploitation

“…At the dialogue event, there were reports that some forms of child exploitation had migrated online (The Rights Lab, 2021a). The latter reflects research on child victims of criminal exploitation during Covid-19 that found young people faced heightened risks of exploitation via social media (Brewster et al, 2021). What follows is an overview of policy responses captured in the evidence review in relation to the risks facing children living in the UK of entering exploitation.…”

“…Whilst studies have reported the impact of the pandemic on marginalised children around the world, few have focused specifically on children affected by modern slavery either as the children of those who have exited situations of slavery, child victims of exploitation or those at risk of entering exploitation. Research has been undertaken in relation to the implications of the crisis for child criminal exploitation in the UK (Brewster et al, 2021 ; Pitts, 2020 ; Racher & Brodie, 2020 ). This emerging research indicates that the safeguarding ability of organisations in England was hindered by the Covid‐19 restrictions especially, the reduction in face‐to‐face contact with young people exploited for County Lines purposes (Brewster et al, 2021 ).…”

“…Research has been undertaken in relation to the implications of the crisis for child criminal exploitation in the UK (Brewster et al, 2021 ; Pitts, 2020 ; Racher & Brodie, 2020 ). This emerging research indicates that the safeguarding ability of organisations in England was hindered by the Covid‐19 restrictions especially, the reduction in face‐to‐face contact with young people exploited for County Lines purposes (Brewster et al, 2021 ). This paper seeks to contribute to this new body of evidence by exploring how lockdowns, school closures and the migration from in‐person to remote forms of support and provision specifically impacted the rights and lives of children of modern slavery survivors, unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC hereafter) as well as victims of criminal exploitation.…”

County lines and the impact of police response: a study of Norfolk compared with East Anglia and the nation (England and wales)

“…The noticeable exceptions were drug offences and domestic violence. 31 A study by Brewster et al 31 outlines the impact that Covid-19 had on the county lines model and how adaptations had to be made during the lockdown periods. There had been some overall indication that the pandemic had been an inhibitor of crime 31 but due to the lack of evidence and studies prior to Covid-19, the impact can only be assessed through media representation and the opinions of experts in the field.…”

Detection & identification of hazardous narcotics and new psychoactive substances using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR)

“…In the UK the illicit drugs market is estimated to be worth around £9.4 billion per year and drug poisoning deaths are currently at record levels. 2 4400 deaths in England and Wales were recorded due to drug misuse in 2019 according to the Office of National Statistics, increasing to 4561 deaths in 2020, 60.9% higher than a decade earlier in 2010. Opiates, such as heroin and morphine, accounted for just under half, 49.6%, of overdoses in England and Wales.…”