Kent PCC candidates address county lines drug dealing

The election is on 2 May

The three candidates standing to be Kent's next police and crime commissioner (PCC) have spoken about how they would tackle county lines in the area.

County lines is the term used to describe drug-dealing networks connecting urban and rural areas, using phone lines across the UK.

Current PCC Matthew Scott, from the Conservatives, said the number of local county lines had dropped from 85 to 29.

Office for National Statistics data showed drug offences in Kent jumped 34% in the 12 months before September 2023 compared to the year before.

Police said children as young as 12 had been recruited by county lines gangs to sell drugs in Kent

Weapon possession crimes were also up 5% in the same period in Kent compared to the year before.

Between 1 January and 1 April 2024, 112 arrests were made by Kent Police's county lines officers.

There were also 151 charges and prison sentences that totalled 38 years and 10 months, Kent Police said.

Previously children as young as 12 had been recruited by county lines gangs to sell drugs in Kent.

The PCC candidates

Mr Scott said: "Kent Police has led the way on enforcement by doing more stop and searches to detect weapons, but I’m absolutely clear, we need to do more.

"So I will continue to invest not just in county lines and organised crime, but neighbourhood policing will be a key part of that.”

Lenny Rolles, from Labour and the Co-operative Party, said he wanted to adopt a "full system approach" to tackle county lines.

He explained: “I would identify the fact that county lines are only one part of the supply problem."

Kent Police said its county line officers made 112 arrests between 1 January and 1 April 2024

The Liberal Democrats' Graham Colley said he believed county lines were a "terrible problem".

"What we need is for more intelligence to find out when they [young people] are being drawn in and to try and rescue them as soon as possible,” he added.