Research at Uni of York working with victims of County lines gangs
It's part of a project to help police forces with their response to the crime
Researchers at the University of York are looking at ways to improve support for vulnerable people cruelly exploited by County lines gangs.
They're working with police forces across the UK to look at how they respond to the crime.
Dr Chris Devany says they're also hearing harrowing stories directly from the people who've been exploited - including one boy who got involved when he was just 14: "He started off by being given around £100 pounds a day to transport drugs around his local area and after a couple of years he got sent to nearby towns and cities often taking drugs, taking weapons taking ammunition and essentially he was stabbed when he was 17 and a half years old."
The researchers are also working with police forces across the UK to improve their response to the crime: "There are some police forces who are very vulnerability focussed and they have very solid procedures in places but there are some other police forces who are, I wouldn't say they are neglecting it, but certainly they are not on the same place along that journey."
It come as North Yorkshire arrested more than 30 people last week in a County lines operation.
North Yorkshire Police collaborated with Merseyside Police on a national “Project Medusa” operation to disrupt county lines drug dealing and safeguard vulnerable people.
The targeted operation focused on York on Wednesday 10 January and Selby on Thursday 11 January. In total 32 people were arrested, and a large quantity of Class A and B drugs were seized as well as several vehicles and dangerous weapons. Three of the 32 that were arrested were wanted on warrant.
Detective Chief Inspector Carol Kirk from North Yorkshire Police was leading the operation. DCI Kirk commented:
“Project Medusa is one of the largest operations that North Yorkshire Police has ever seen. It’s firmly had our approach of protecting communities and safeguarding the vulnerable at its heart."
“At the start of the new year these results are extremely positive and will go a long way to improve the quality of life for people in our communities."
“But this is two days of activity, and we won’t stop here. We will continue our relentless pursuit to protect our communities from harm and ensure that North Yorkshire remains one of the safest places to live.”
Inspector Stephen Morris, from Merseyside Police said:
"We regularly deploy to other force areas to target county lines drug dealing, and this operation with North Yorkshire shows the results that can be achieved when working jointly to target those involved in this type of criminality.
“The arrests and seizures made during this operation should act as a stark warning to county lines offenders. My message to those involved in county lines is clear – we have a zero-tolerance approach to serious organised crime, and we are relentless in our pursuit of those involved.”