‘County lines’: racism, safeguarding and statecraft in Britain

Koch, Insa; Williams, Patrick; Wroe, Lauren

Abstract

Government policies relating to dealers in ‘county lines’ drugs trafficking cases have been welcomed as a departure from punitive approaches to drugs and ‘gang’ policing, in that those on the bottom rung of the drugs economy of heroin and crack cocaine are no longer treated as criminals but as potential victims and ‘modern slaves’ in need of protection. However, our research suggests not so much a radical break with previous modes of policing as that the term ‘county lines’ emerged as a logical extension of the government’s racist and classist language surrounding ‘gangs’, knife crime and youth violence. Policies implemented in the name of safeguarding the vulnerable also act as a gateway for criminalisation not just under drugs laws but also modern slavery legislation. The government’s discovery of, and responses to, ‘county lines’ hinge on a moral crisis in the making, which ultimately deepens the state’s pre-emptive and violent criminalisation of the ‘Black criminal other’ at a time of deep political crisis.

Citation

Koch, I., Williams, P., & Wroe, L. (2024). ‘County lines’: racism, safeguarding and statecraft in Britain. Race & Class, 65(3), 3-26. https://doi.org/10.1177/03063968231201325

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 30, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Nov 15, 2023
• Publication Date: 2024-01
• Deposit Date: Nov 23, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 23, 2023
• Journal: Race & Class
• Print ISSN: 0306-3968
• Electronic ISSN: 1741-3125
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 65
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 3-26
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/03063968231201325
• Keywords: General Social Sciences; Sociology and Political Science; Social Sciences (miscellaneous); Archeology; Anthropology; Archeology; Cultural Studies
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1947709