County Lines/ Child Criminal Exploitation

My name is Dean Coady OBE – I am contacting you today to make you aware of the Safeguarding work that I am currently delivering across the UK and to explore how if you may be interested in further conversation regarding increasing the resilience of children and young adults to County Lines/Child Criminal Exploitation and also training and supporting Adult Safeguarders that have these children and vulnerable adults in their charge. 

Let me tell you a little bit about myself and what I am currently involved in, focusing on my two projects, County Lines (Child Criminal Exploitation) and Knife Crime interactive workshops. 

I was born Salford and grew up in South Manchester. I am a former Parachute Regiment Soldier, served 10 years and now retired Manchester Police Detective, served 26 years. Every day of my police service was front-line and included postings in CID, Field Intelligence, Major Crime and Specialist Operations, Counter Terrorism Branch and Gang Unit Moss Side, (to name but a few). Prior to my retirement, I was one of the highest decorated cops in England and I have just got back to the UK having been deployed in Africa training Bushrangers to combat Illegal Wildlife Crime and Poaching. 

I am now a self-employed Safeguarding trainer and Managing Director at my company Urban Pure Solutions. Please have a look at my website urbanpuresolutions.com for further detail.

I have been engaging with least-heard individuals, high-risk and vulnerable children and adults, mainstream groups, supported learning and numerous communities and diasporas across the UK all my working life, and have been delivering bespoke Safeguarding training at Urban Pure, full time, for the last five years.

I specialise in youth engagement, street-crime and consequences, gangs, CCE, County Lines and radicalisation as well as supporting adult safeguarders, teachers and similar that have young people or vulnerable adults in their charge.

Albeit not a new threat, County Lines/CCE has been mentioned in the latest Keeping Children Safe in Education and in the Government’s Serious Violence Strategy.

This heinous phenomena is very much in the news identified as potentially the most all-encompassing series of dangers facing our young children and vulnerable adults. The National Crime Agency have stated that ‘Organised Crime is a greater threat to our communities than Terrorism!” 

Street-Gangs and Organised Crime Group’s County Lines and Criminal Exploitation activity encompasses; drug dealing, firearms, home invasion, threats to mental and physical health, sexual exploitation, modern day slavery and people trafficking, to name but a few. 

So what is County Lines/CCE? 

County Lines encompasses Vulnerable Adult and Child Criminal Exploitation is the name given to the trafficking and exploitation of young people and vulnerable adults within the UK, for criminal purposes. You may have seen mention of this over the last few months in many newspapers and the corresponding guidance to combat this has been prepared by the National Crime Agency and supported by the Home Office, Ending Youth and Gang Violence and Exploitation forum, of which I am a member. I was also recently invited to speak to a cross party group at the House of Commons, to tell them of my work in relation to empowering children and vulnerable adults to make better decisions, as well as also increasing the knowledge of adult safeguarders. 

Let me give you this very simple example. A parent/carer or safeguarder is contacted by the police and informed that, Chrissie, a 16 year old boy/girl from Bigtown, currently in their charge, has been arrested in Smalltown in possession of class A drugs and £300 in cash. They were found in the house of a vulnerable adult with learning difficulties, called David. Absolutely no connection to the young person. Chrissie has never been missing from home and this is the first time they have been arrested.

Initially this sounds like the young person is a minor drug dealer, maybe under the charge of the vulnerable adult – however in this case, this is not correct!!! 

Chrissie had been groomed over a period of time by an established drug dealer from Bigtown, that had spread his dealing operations from the City, to Smalltown (County). Less gangsters, more of an unchallenged marketplace. This same Bigtown gangster had sent down a reconnaissance team or ‘scoping party’ of his street dealers to take over the existing drug market in Smalltown, and they have identified Dave the vulnerable adult and ‘cuckooed’ (invaded) his address, making it their drug-dealing den by force or coercion.

So in fact this pair are better described as victims and not only should we be looking to prosecute the gangster/criminal for dealing, but also for potential modern day slavery, exploitation and human trafficking!!!

This is obviously only a very basic example and there are other aspects of County Lines that you will discover when you read the NCA guidance as well as the Home Office Serious Violence Strategy 2018. Often the drug-dealing may NOT be from Urban to Rural, but from one side of a city to another, from one end of a road to another – this is still drug trafficking and exploitation, regardless of distances actually covered! The majority of Police forces in the UK have reported County Lines activity going on in their area.

So where do I fit in? Since November 2016.have delivered Prevent, Gangs and County Lines training to over 65 000 children and Adult Safeguarders Most recently I have worked with individuals and organisations that care for children and vulnerable adults, in Hampshire – Portsmouth, Southampton, Surrey, Oxford, Lichfield, Hull, London, Lancashire, Manchester, Salford, Liverpool, Cheshire and Durham. (To be honest, I can not remember all the places I have been!)

I have delivered robust, realistic and age-appropriate training at hundreds of Secondary Pupil Referral Units, mainstream schools, colleges, supported learning, youth clubs, children’s homeless accommodations – working with young learners and teachers. I have also demonstrated and shared my training with the Home Office Ending Youth Violence and Exploitation Panel and several Police and Crime Commissioner Projects, again across the UK.

I have lectured at Salford University on the Modern Day Slavery CPD sessions, Manchester, Cheshire, Merseyside, Oxford and Hampshire LSCB, numerous police forces, delivered to Barnardo’s, Children’s Society, Manchester Youth Zone, Manchester Young Lives, Rio Ferdinand Charity, Manchester City in the Community, Active Communities Network, Catch22, CAPE, NWG, REACH, Care4Children, Foster Carers, Children and supporting staff, Mental Health, NHS, Schools Improvement Officers, Cheshire school’s Police officers, Manchester Youth Services, DSL’s and Deputy Head conferences and similar in Warrington, Rochdale, Manchester, Liverpool, Cheshire, Hampshire, Oxford, Surrey etc. 

My Adult Safeguarding training is called:                ‘The Borders Project’ – County Lines Awareness for Safeguarders – (3 hrs duration – Maximum of 60 learners). The Borders Project includes definitions of Gangs, Organised Crime, Insight into aspects that cause increased vulnerability, The National Referral Mechanism, Correlation between CL and Modern Day Slavery and People Trafficking, also includes an Adult Safeguarder’s version of Street- Strong, Street – Safe, (see below) enhanced youth engagement and knife-crime input.

My Young Learner’s training is called:  ‘Street-strong, Street-safe’.  1hr duration, 11 to 21 years. Maximum learners – 30 (or a class size) for mainstream children and 10 – 15 children for supported learners/PRU’s and similar. This training consists of an Introduction to what County Lines and Child Criminal Exploitation actually is and how it can affect young people. Using a series of highly-interactive and realistic scenarios, I engage, educate and empower learners to make more informed decisions with regard to responding to their personal threat, risk and vulnerabilities in relation to Criminal Exploitation and some effective physical safety drills.

This input also includes an additional Knife-crime awareness mini-teach.

K.N.I.F.E

Alternatively I can deliver a 60 minute stand alone Knife Crime Awareness input, entitled K.N.I.F.E – Killed, Nicked, Injured, Family ruined, Employment and Travel destroyed. (1 hr duration – up to 35 learners)

           

Please note – I do not deliver to lectures to assemblies or full year groups – I engage the children (and adults) in highly interactive, realistic and enjoyable workshops. (Don’t call me to tick any boxes!!) 

Dependant on the location of the venue, travel and accom related expenses, may need to be added – however this would be discussed at time of booking. Similarly I will offer discount for block or multiple bookings. 

I cannot impress on you enough how rife County Lines, (CCE) and Knife Crime has become. I am sure you will agree that County Lines criminal methodology is not new as Adults have been exploiting children for Criminal and Sexual purposes for quite a long time.

The schools, colleges and other organisations that I work with, really seem to enjoy the training I deliver to them as it is realistic, engaging and covers not just aspects of County Lines, but also gangs, guns, knives, drug abuse, CSE, true friendships, coping with peer pressure and other negative influences and introduces learners to personal safety strategies to get them out of some very tricky and dangerous situations.

Due to the demand on Urban Pure, for this training, I have had to retire from my position as school governor at 17 Pupil Referral Units, however this has given me invaluable experience to also share this learning with other Governors and parents.

Please feel free to ask me for local referees that you could contact should you require any more information as to the effectiveness of my workshops and do not hesitate to get back to me should you require further.

I hope this assists and I look forward to speaking with you in the near future.

Keep safe.

Dean