Videos
Identifying and Disrupting County Lines to Prevent Child Exploitation
Figures from the National Crime Agency reveal that there are over 2,000 county lines across the UK. Detective Superintendent Andy O’Connor is the County Lines Lead for Merseyside Police discusses the importance of partnership working with partners and the public to break the cycle of recruitment into county lines and gang crime.
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A Whole-System Approach to Diverting Young People from Crime and Refocusing their Identity
According to the Office for National Statistics, there has been a 10% increase in knife-enabled crime in the past year. In this video, Jonathan Toy, Service Manager for Community Safety discusses the whole system approach they have in place that works as a preventive programme to meet individual’s needs and tackle serious youth crimes.
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Understanding New Methods of Child Criminal Exploitation
There were 12,720 children identified by social services as being at risk of child criminal exploitation by gangs between March 2021-2022. In this video, Abbee McLatchie, Director of Youth Work at the National Youth Agency discusses some of the challenges young people face which make them vulnerable to criminal exploitation and how services can better engage with them to provide support.
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Preventing Child Exploitation: Identifying Vulnerable Young People and Intervening Early
Over 12,500 children in England were identified as being at risk of criminal exploitation in March 2020-21. Alex Bridge, Service Manager at Southend Borough Council, shares how the ‘See the Signs’ campaign has raised local community awareness of child exploitation to improve early intervention responses from councils and protect at risk individuals.
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Children in Care: Reducing the Risk of Children in Care going Missing
Over 1 in 8 children in care go missing every year. They are at risk of criminal and sexual exploitation, and when they return, are often put in secure accommodation. We heard from the National Youth Advocacy Service about why secure accommodation isn’t always the best option and why open communication can be the best way forward in these situations.
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Gangs and County Lines: An Overview
County lines is a form of criminal exploitation in which criminals groom and manipulate children into drug dealing. Many young people end up involved in violent crime as a result. This infographic gives an overview of the current statistics around county lines, gang involvement and violent crime in the UK.
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Missing the Point: Reducing the Risk of Children in Care going Missing
Children in care are more likely to be reported missing than other children. This leaves them vulnerable to criminal and sexual exploitation. This article explores what the National Youth Advocacy Service is doing to ensure looked after children don't go missing.
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Why Gangs, Violence and Weapon Crime is on the Rise and What to do About it?
Professor Simon Harding of the University of West London discusses gangs, knives and youth violence, why it is on the rise and what to do about it.
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Combatting Gangs, Violence & County Lines: Drugs, Exploitation and Harm Reduction
Jason Kew, Detective Chief Inspector of Thames Valley VRU spoke to us about the work they've been doing to spot and prevent exploitation, and reduce drug-related harm.
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Combatting Gangs, Violence & County Lines: Preventing and Reducing Violence through Place-Based Interventions
Speaking at our conference on tackling county lines gang violence, Karina Wane of the London VRU spoke through the role of place-based interventions.
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County Lines Gangs: Tackling Exploitation with Mentoring
Emily Aklan, Founder and Chief Executive of Serenity Welfare, discusses the exploitation of children and grooming by county lines gangs.
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Tackling Gangs, Violence and Weapon Crime: Operation Sycamore, Getting Knives off the Streets
Rebecca Statham, Campaign and Engagement Team Leader, and Detective Inspector Roger Edwards, of Greater Manchester Police, speak about Operation Sycamore and taking knives off the streets at the Tackling Gangs, Violence and Weapon Crime Conference 2020.
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