Policing County Lines

Responses To Evolving Provincial Drug Markets
1. Auflage 2021
ISBN: 978-3-030-54195-8
Verlag: Springer International Publishing

Buch, Englisch, 253 Seiten, Format (B × H): 148 mm x 210 mm, Gewicht: 356 g

Reihe: Palgrave Studies in Risk, Crime and Society

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.

Zielgruppe

Research

Autoren/Hrsg.

Spicer, Jack

Fachgebiete

• Rechtswissenschaften Strafrecht Kriminologie, Strafverfolgung
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziale Arbeit/Sozialpädagogik
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Regierungspolitik Innen-, Bildungs- und Bevölkerungspolitik
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziale Gruppen/Soziale Themen Jugendkriminalität

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Prelims1.      Introduction1.1  The realities of drug markets1.2  Policing County Lines1.3  Policing drug markets: a research agenda1.4  Book structure 2.      County Lines2.1  Conceptualising ‘import’ markets 2.2  What’s in a name?2.3  The phenomenon’s (official) development2.4  County Lines as ‘chronocentrism’?2.5  A product of saturation?2.6  The structure of County Lines networks2.7  The involvement of young people2.8  Local harms2.9  The advancement of cuckooing2.10          Conclusion  3.      Policing drug markets3.1 Pyramids and mirrors: the organisation of drugs policing3.1.1 Operationalising drug market policing3.1.2 Sweeping up3.1.3 Cracking down3.2 Harmful, ineffective and symbolic?3.2.1 The effectiveness of crackdowns3.2.2 Symbolic policing3.3 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 Lines4.2 Going backstage4.3 Navigating my way through the field4.4 Insider or outsider?4.5 Ethical molehills4.6 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 tactics6.1 Put on hold: introducing the DDTRO            6.1.1 A blunt tool            6.1.2 The symbolism of the DDTRO6.2 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 control7.2 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 swords7.3 Conclusion 8.      Drug market priorities8.1 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 crackdowns8.3 Prioritisation in practice            8.3.1 Prioritisation in the fast paced world of County Lines 9.      Conclusion9.1 Impure market evolutions: the advancement of County Lines9.2 The symbolic face of drug market policing 9.3 Organic shifts towards harm reduction policing9.4 ‘We can’t arrest our way out of this’: some concluding thoughts

Über Autor(innen)

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.