This is how organised crime gangs are exploiting children & young people in South Yorkshire

Organised crime groups operating within South Yorkshire are using grooming, and a myriad of other tactics, to recruit 'vulnerable young people'.

That is the view of Detective Superintendent Jamie Henderson, head of serious and organised crime and also the firearms thematic lead for South Yorkshire Police, which he describes as being 'passionate about' tackling child criminal exploitation.

Child criminal exploitation (CCE) occurs when an individual or group takes advantage of an imbalance of power to coerce, control, manipulate or deceive a child or young person under the age of 18.

Det Supt Henderson believes child criminal exploitation is being carried out by organised crime groups - or gangs - (OCGs) with the intention of getting vulnerable, young people to 'take the rap' for those higher up.

He said: "CCE is where our OCGs really exploit families and vulnerabilities and try and find individuals that are going to essentially take the rap for them.

"So your higher echelons of OCGs aren't going to be found with drugs. They aren't going to be found with firearms. They're the ones that are going to exploit your vulnerable young people to harbour items, whether that be guns or whether that be drugs. 

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"Essentially they're the ones that are greater risk."

Det Supt Henderson notes that the majority of people involved with firearms discharges are in their 'late teens, early twenties'.

"They're the ones that are around there on the streets dealing, that are putting themselves at significant risk.

"It's not these Mr Bigs that people might perceive that are higher up in these OCG chains," Det Supt Henderson said.  

Explaining how the so-called 'Mr Bigs' lure youngsters in, he continued: "They're the ones that are recruiting these young people and showing them the affluent lifestyle, what they can get from the affluent lifestyle because they might be from challenging social economic backgrounds themselves, and not have much.

"And in terms of prospects and opportunities, they might be limited so that attention and that grooming that these individuals do."

Det Supt said cracking down on CCE is 'fundamental to us tackling organised crime within South Yorkshire'.