What cuckooing is and how to get help.
Cuckooing is when organised crime groups, gangs or drug dealers target vulnerable people and use their homes to deal drugs from.
Cuckooing allows criminals to work from a property rather than the street. This allows drug deals to happen out of sight from the police.
It's difficult for the police to monitor cuckooing because the criminals often only stay at a property for a short period of time.
Drugs, money and weapons may also be stored at the property. Children and young people, sometimes who have gone missing from home or care, have been found in “cuckooed” properties.
Vulnerable people in cuckooed properties are often coerced into allowing their property to be used. This could be through the offer of ‘free’ drugs or the threat of violence.
Once a gang has gained control of the property, the cuckooed person may then be forced to deal drugs to pay off the free drugs they were initially given. This is known as ‘debt bondage’.
Gangs may also use accommodation in rural areas.
This can include:
Cuckooing continues to be a problem in Brighton & Hove, putting vulnerable people at risk of harm.
Children and other vulnerable adults are often used as drug runners. This significantly increases their risk of criminal exploitation, sexual exploitation and violence. We consider this form of exploitation to be modern slavery.
Some vulnerable adults have been forced to leave their homes which can lead to homelessness. This also leaves the gangs free to sell drugs in their absence.
Drug users and adults with other vulnerabilities such as mental health issues and learning difficulties are particularly vulnerable to being cuckooed. They may be reluctant to raise concerns for fear of repercussions or violence.
There are lots of signs that might indicate a person's property is being cuckooed.
These include:
If the usual person that lives at the property has new people staying, this may also be a sign a person's property is being cuckooed. You might notice extra bags of clothing and bedding in the property.
Victims of cuckooing may stop communicating with support services, and be unwilling to discuss what's happening at their property when the subject is raised. This is often because they are scared.
Brighton & Hove City Council and Sussex Police have implemented a multi-agency response to cuckooing.
Report cuckooing to Sussex Police if you're concerned that a property has been cuckooed.
Include as much information as possible including:
Phone 999 if there's an emergency.
If cuckooing has been identified, Sussex Police will coordinate a multi-agency response.
This involves:
We'll work together to make sure that:
We aim to protect the tenancy of the usual occupants in the cuckooed property.
There's a monthly multi-agency meeting. All agencies involved in the ongoing safeguarding of an individual meet. We review recent contact and prevention measures that we use to reduce the person’s risk and vulnerability to cuckooing.
Sometimes Sussex Police get reports about people who are not cuckooed but may have complex needs or vulnerabilities.
These include:
When this happens, they pass on the concerns to children’s and adult social services. Those services assess whether the person that lives at the property is at risk of harm. If they are at risk they're eligible for help under the Children’s Act 1989 or Care Act 2014.
If a person has not been cuckooed, the multi-agency cuckooing response would not be used. It does not mean they do not receive a service. Sussex Police may undertake a welfare visit which can lead to referrals to other support agencies.