County lines officers 869/2022

FOI Reference: 869/2022

Request:

1) Do you have any units or teams that are dedicated to safeguarding that works in the context of County Lines ?

1. What are the units called (e.g. Child Centred Policing Team; Vulnerability Assessment Team; Child Exploitation Team)?
2. Does each Basic Command Unit have all of these teams or only some [please list The BCUs that do/do not if not present in all - if ‘all force’ please state]?
3. How many FTE work in each of the units dedicated to dealing with vulnerability in each BCU?
4. How many trained Child Abuse Investigators does each BCU have?

2) Do you use any tools such as Vulnerability Assessment/Identification Forms in the context of county lines (i.e. forms that are used by front-line officers or front desk officers to determine, either pre or post arrest, whether safeguarding is more appropriate than arrest/prosecution)

If yes, is this the form produced by the National County Lines Coordination Centre (NCLCC) or was it produced locally?

1. Is there a different assessment tool or process for young people and for adults?
2. Is the tool used before or after arrest?
3. If the tool is not the NCLCC form, can we please get a copy of the specific tool that you use (for comparison with other forces)?

3) Does your force work with a MASH (Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub) or equivalent?

1. If yes, is this force wide or is there a MASH or more than one MASH in each BCU?

Response 1:

I can confirm that there is no information held by Dyfed-Powys Police due to the fact that Dyfed-Powys Police does not have any units or teams that are dedicated to safeguarding that works in the context of County Lines.

Please note: all police officers are trained to deliver effective law enforcement which includes highlighting any signs of county lines activity and safeguarding any vulnerable individuals/victims caught up in this criminality.

Response 1.1 – 1.4:

A response to questions 1.1 – 1.4 is not applicable which is based on the response provided in relation to question 1.

Response 2:

I can confirm that there is no information held by Dyfed-Powys Police due to the fact that Dyfed-Powys Police does not have  a vulnerability assessment / identification form in use in the context of county lines.

Response 2.1 – 2.3:

A response to questions 2.1 – 2.3 is not applicable which is based on the response provided in relation to question 2.

Response 3:

I can confirm that there is no information held by Dyfed-Powys Police due to the fact that we do not have MASH within each BCU.

Response 3.1:

A response to questions 3.1 is not applicable which is based on the response provided in relation to question 3.

Additionally, Dyfed-Powys Police can neither confirm nor deny that it holds any other information with regard to an exempt body as the duty in Section 1(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 does not apply by virtue of the following exemption:

Section 23(5) Information supplied by or concerning certain Security Bodies.

Section 23 is a class-based absolute exemption and there is no requirement to consider the public interest in this case.

Confirming or denying the existence of whether any other information is held would contravene the constrictions laid out within Section 23 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in that this stipulates a generic bar on disclosure of any information applied by, or concerning, certain Security Bodies.

It should be noted that as a result of the systems adopted by Dyfed-Powys Police in relation to the recording of such information that the information released may or may not be accurate.

Furthermore, it should also be noted that Police forces in the United Kingdom are routinely required to provide crime statistics to government bodies and the recording criteria is set nationally. However, the systems used for recording these figures are not generic, nor are the procedures used locally in capturing the crime data. It should be noted that for these reasons this force's response to your questions should not be used for comparison purposes with any other response you may receive.

(This is a response under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and disclosed on 18/01/2023)