The policing of ‘county lines’ in affected import towns: Exploring local responses to evolving heroin and crack markets

Spicer, Jack

Abstract

Across the UK, markets for heroin and crack cocaine in provincial towns are evolving. Due to the high-profile drug market development termed ‘County Lines’, retail supply in many areas is now seemingly dominated by ‘out of town’ dealers who have established ‘import’ markets often far from their native city. Associated with this are significant harms and implications for affected local areas. This thesis presents findings of an exploratory ethnographic study that investigated how County Lines was being understood and responded to at a local level. The research was undertaken in two phases. The first involved in-depth interviews with police officers tasked with responding to the County Lines ‘problem’ in their force area. The second phase consisted of a period of in-depth ethnographic fieldwork with a different police force, using participant observation and further interviewing with officers and those working for other agencies in affected provincial towns. Three narrative literature review chapters set the theoretical foundations for the thesis. Critical discussions are provided in relation to drug markets, the specific development of County Lines and the policing of drug markets. The subsequent empirical chapters build on this, contributing to gaps in knowledge regarding the nature of these evolving drug markets and how this market development is being understood and responded to at a local level. It is argued that much of the policing of County Lines, whether it be through new or traditional approaches, can be considered ‘symbolic’. A somewhat organic shift towards applying harm reduction principles to this market context is also noted, with the enduring challenges associated with such a policing approach also highlighted. In addition to empirically and theoretically developing these two extant drug policing perspectives, the thesis therefore contributes to the growing focus on County Lines, adding deep insight into how this burgeoning outreach drug supply model is specifically affecting local markets, their actors and those responding to it.

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Jul 31, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 15, 2019
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/1822537
• Award Date: Nov 15, 2019