Policing County Lines

The County Lines phenomenon has become one of the most significant drug market developments in the UK over recent years. This book analyses how it is being responded to by the police in affected provincial areas. Drawing on unique ethnographic fieldwork, it takes readers into police stations and out onto the streets with officers, providing timely insight into the policing of this high profile and challenging drug market context. The book considers the use of new police tactics that have been proposed and familiar methods that officers regularly embarked on. Through a sophisticated theoretical framework it argues that the policing of County Lines can often be considered 'symbolic', with concerns regularly placed on sending out strong messages that appear superficial when closely examined. Alongside this, however, there appears to be a progressive shift towards a more pragmatic drugs policing approach that embraces harm reduction principles.This cutting-edge research speaks to academics in Criminology and Policing, and to practitioners and policy makers.

Makes a timely contribution to the high-profile issue of County Lines

Draws on unique ethnographic data

Analyses the policing styles, tactics and methods put in place to respond to County Lines

Theoretically considers 'symbolic policing' and the application of harm reduction principles to drugs policing

Auteur

Jack Spicer is Lecturer in Criminology at UWE, Bristol, UK. His research interests include the functioning of illicit drug markets, drug law enforcement and drug policy. In 2019 he was awarded "Best Early Career Researcher" by the International Society for the Study of Drug Policy.

Résumé
"Bringing a wealth of detail and clarity to the study of this topic, Spicer invites the reader ... . Spicer cultivates a rich insight into his own experiences of the ethnographic process, valuable to both those embarking on early experiences of fieldwork and those seeking to contextualize the book's substantive insights. ... Overall, the book makes a valuable contribution to the literature on county lines and policing. Spicer invites us to examine ... with a pragmatic, critical eye." (Hannah Marshall, The British Journal of Criminology, Vol. 62 (2), 2022)

Contenu
Prelims

1. Introduction

1.1 The realities of drug markets

1.2 Policing County Lines

1.3 Policing drug markets: a research agenda

1.4 Book structure

2. County Lines

2.1 Conceptualising 'import' markets 2.2 What's in a name? 2.3 The phenomenon's (official) development

2.4 County Lines as 'chronocentrism'?

2.5 A product of saturation?

2.6 The structure of County Lines networks

2.7 The involvement of young people

2.8 Local harms

2.9 The advancement of cuckooing

2.10 Conclusion

3. Policing drug markets 3.1 Pyramids and mirrors: the organisation of drugs policing

3.1.1 Operationalising drug market policing

3.1.2 Sweeping up

3.1.3 Cracking down

3.2 Harmful, ineffective and symbolic?

3.2.1 The effectiveness of crackdowns

3.2.2 Symbolic policing

3.3 The case for change: applying harm reduction principles to the policing of drug markets

3.3.1 Shaping drug markets by addressing externalities

3.3.2 A realistic approach?

3.3.3 The way forward?

3.4 Conclusion

4. Navigating a 'newsy' field 4.1 Exploring the world of County Lines 4.2 Going backstage

4.3 Navigating my way through the field

4.4 Insider or outsider?

4.5 Ethical molehills

4.6 Conclusion

5. Policing a crisis?

5.1 Dealers 'out of place'

5.2 Dirty business

5.3 The threat to young people

5.4 Violence as instrumental or expressive?

5.5 Partnerships and control signals

5.6 'Another pair of eyes and ears' 5.7 Drug services as the difficult partner 5.8 Diverging from the norm?

5.9 Conclusion

6. New tactics 6.1 Put on hold: introducing the DDTRO

   6.1.1 A blunt tool

   6.1.2 The symbolism of the DDTRO

6.2 From pushers to enslavers

6.2.1 Practical barriers

6.2.2 The symbolism of Modern Slavery convictions 6.3 Conclusion

7. More of the same?

7.1 Time to crackdown 7.1.1 Crackdowns as weak signals of control 7.2 Days of action

7.2.1 Smoke gets in your eyes

7.2.2 Not so 'hot' spots

7.2.2 Welfare checks as double edged swords

7.3 Conclusion

8. Drug market priorities

8.1 Netting the 'top boys: variance and the case of the 'ideal' line

8.1.1 A time for discretion?

8.1.2 The value neutral problem 8.2 An organic shift to harm reduction policing 8.2.1 Prioritisation as harm reduction?

8.2.2 Mitigating the value neutral problem

8.2.3 External perceptions

8.2.4 Guiding crackdowns

8.3 Prioritisation in practice

8.3.1 Prioritisation in the fast paced world of County Lines

9. Conclusion

9.1 Impure market evolutions: the advancement of County Lines

9.2 The symbolic face of drug market policing 9.3 Organic shifts towards harm reduction policing 9.4 'We can't arrest our way out of this': some concluding thoughts