Bedfordshire Police urge public to help in tackling exploitation

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The public can play a crucial role in exposing exploitation and violence, according to some of the force's top inspectors.

They have launched a new campaign dubbed BAVEX (Bedfordshire Against Violence and Exploitation) in a bid to highlight how people can help bring wrongdoing to their attention.

It also hopes to raise awareness around things like modern slavery, cuckooing and child sexual exploitation in the county.

On 19th March (Thursday 2021), police successfully raided a cannabis factory in Great Barford. They seized hundreds of plants worth tens of thousands of pounds. Makeshift marijuana farms play into wider networks of serious and organised crimes.

Some of the marijuana seized in Great Barford Credit: ITV Anglia.

Detective Inspector Tom Stean, who helped lead the raid, says sites like this are getting increasingly more sophisticated, in order to avoid detection.

As well as the police, a whole host of other organisations across the county such as councils, charities and NHS organisations.

Lisa Robinson in the exploitation lead Bedfordshire Violence and Exploitation Reduction Unit, who works with all the different organisations.