Tendring Community Assets Full Final Report

43 11.4.3 Tackling crime at a local level involves investing in a number of different strands of community activity. Those which are evident from research include diversionary activity for teenagers, a holistic response to drug and alcohol misuse and tackling addictions, promoting positive mental health, reducing worklessness and providing support to those with concerns within their domestic environment. 11.4.4 In the year ending September 2018, the crime rate in Tendring was the fifth highest in Essex and higher than average for the force area. Average crime rates Crime rates in Tendring are consistently higher than the Essex average and in similar areas to Tendring. 44 11.5 County Lines 11.5.1 County Lines are increasingly a challenge for Tendring, at the time of this report there were 29 County Lines known to be operational across Tendring. They are developed by criminal gangs setting up drug dealing operations somewhere outside their usual operating area. Gangs will move their drug dealing from big cities (e.g. London, Manchester, Liverpool etc.) to smaller towns in order to make more money. This can have a significant effect on the community who live there and bring with it serious criminal behaviour. Gangs recruit and use children and young people to move drugs and money for them. Children as young as 11 years old are recruited, often using social media. They are exploited and forced to carry drugs between locations, usually on trains or coaches. They are also forced to sell drugs to local users. 11.5.2 The national picture on county lines continues to develop but there are recorded cases of: 45  children as young as 12 years old being exploited or moved by gangs to courier drugs out of their local area; 15-16 years is the most common age range  both males and females being exploited  White British children being targeted because gangs perceive they are more likely to evade police detection, but a person of any ethnicity or nationality may be exploited  the use of social media to make initial contact with children and young people  class A drug users being targeted so that gangs can take over their homes (known as ‘cuckooing’). 11.5.3 Gangs are known to target vulnerable children and adults; some of the factors that heighten a person’s vulnerability include:  having prior experience of neglect, physical and/or sexual abuse  lack of a safe/stable home environment, now or in the past (domestic violence or parental substance misuse, mental health issues or criminality, for example)  social isolation or social difficulties  economic vulnerability  homelessness or insecure accommodation status  connections with other people involved in gangs  having a physical or learning disability  having mental health or substance misuse issues;  being in care (particularly those in residential care and those with interrupted care histories)  being excluded from mainstream education, in particular attending a Pupil Referral Unit. 44 Police crime statistics 45 Home Office County Lines Guidance, September 2018