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Boson is the force’s specialist guns and gangs unit, formed to disrupt gang activity and tackle serious violence.
Since its inception in 2018, the dedicated team have achieved:
Between Boson and our serious and organised crime unit, Costello, we have seized drugs worth over £2million.
The county of Bedfordshire presents several unique challenges brought about by its location, various travel links and growing population. As such we encounter an increasingly complex mix and volume of crime, including serious violence, drugs and county lines activity.
Boson are committed to dismantling organised crime groups and protecting the wider community from the violence these crimes often cause.
It’s no secret that there are gangs operating in and across the county of Bedfordshire. We are one of only a small number of areas nationally where local gangs export county drugs lines to other parts of the country.
From organised crime groups fuelling the issue of county lines drug activity to criminal gangs carrying out violent attacks on one another, this kind of criminal activity poses significant risks to all our communities.
Boson and the force’s community policing teams continue to conduct high visibility patrols in hotspot areas for things like drug dealing and gang activity.
Led by Boson, and with the support of other teams, Sparkler patrols aim to tackle the root causes of violence. In the last year alone, officers conducting these dedicated operations seized more than £20,000 in cash, almost 30 weapons and thousands of pounds worth of illicit drugs, while carrying out on average 200 hours of patrols each month.
Drugs, violence and exploitation go hand in hand.
Often, we are challenged about our focus on drugs and in some ways it’s understandable given the public’s external perspective.
However, several shootings and stabbings here in Bedfordshire in recent years can be linked to clashes between gang members, or drugs gangs trying to steal each other’s products.
Drug dealing, county lines and crimes of this nature have what can be referred to as an iceberg effect; on the surface it’s ‘just a bit of weed’, but beneath that is anti-social behaviour, violent crimes and vulnerable people exploited out of their homes, their liberty and in some cases their lives.
These gangs will often use children as drug runners to sell their drugs, move products from place to place or to store and hide weapons.
Most children we see exploited through the drugs trade are dealing cannabis, which can start these young people on a downward spiral towards a life of crime and violence.
These same gangs also take advantage of and exploit other vulnerable people, such as those with addiction issues or poor mental health.
County lines gangs will often take over their homes and use it as a base for their criminal enterprise, reducing the risk to them of being caught by the police - this practice is known as cuckooing.
Vulnerable adults such as those with drink or drug addiction and poor mental health are targeted by criminal gangs to commit crime. This can include begging, shoplifting or benefit fraud.
Drug dealers will take over the home of a vulnerable person in order to use it as a base for their criminal work.
People can be trafficked into forced labour in a variety of typically low paid jobs. This includes manual labour on farms and construction sites, in factories or at nail bars, restaurants and car washes.
Children and young people can be sexually abused for money, power or status. They may received things like drugs, alcohol and gifts in return for sexual activities, or be sexually exploited online.
Organised crime is the driver for much of the violence, exploitation and anti-social behaviour which damages our communities in Bedfordshire. If we stop organised crime, we would all be a lot safer.
People can be coerced into sexual activity such as sex work or brothels or stripping on the web cams. Victims can be trafficked into the UK from places like Eastern Europe or the Far East.
County lines gangs will target children to sell drugs and carry weapons. They can be sent across the country, travelling by train, bus or taxi.
Knowing that we can't simply arrest our way out of these issues, we've been working closely with the county's Violence and Exploitation Reduction Unit to ensure that young people being exploited by these criminal gangs are fully supported to break away from a life of crime.
Bedfordshire’s Violence and Exploitation Reduction Unit (VERU) is a network of agencies and groups that aim to tackle the root causes of things like gang membership and prevent young people from falling into gang criminality and exploitation.
BAVEX is the countywide campaign to raise awareness and reporting on all forms of exploitation, especially those linked to organised crime.
It also signposts to a wide range of support services available across the county.
This includes things like county lines, modern slavery, cuckooing, human trafficking and child sexual exploitation.