Amy Houghton
Monday, August 8, 2022
New analysis by the children's commissioner for England has revealed that 650 children were strip-searched by the Metropolitan Police Service between 2018 and 2020.
A quarter of those subject to intimate searches were aged between 10 and 15, the report adds.
Last week, the Independent Office for Police Conduct issued recommendations to the Met to ensure that a child’s welfare and safeguarding are a “are a primary consideration” when deciding whether to conduct a strip-search.
However, in response the latest findings, children’s commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza, says that she remains “unconvinced that the Metropolitan Police is consistently considering children’s welfare and wellbeing.”
Under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, an appropriate adult such as a parent, social worker, or volunteer must be present during the strip-search of a child, however, in 23 per cent of the cases included in the report, no such figure was confirmed to be present.
The investigation, published on Monday (8 August), follows a case earlier this year in which a 15-year-old girl, referred to as Child Q, was strip-searched by police at her school in east London while on her period, after being wrongly accused of possessing cannabis. An appropriate adult was not present, and the teenager’s parents were not contacted, a review of the case found.
“I am not reassured that what happened to Child Q was an isolated issue, though it was certainly rare and the context unique,” de Souza says in her report.
“Instead, I believe it indicates more systemic problems around child protection. I remain unconvinced that the Metropolitan Police is consistently considering children’s welfare and wellbeing.
“A police power that is as intrusive and traumatic for children as a strip-search must be treated with the utmost care and responsibility. It must also be accompanied by a robust and transparent system of scrutiny to protect and safeguard vulnerable children. Practice in this area is not currently consistent across England,” she adds.
It was also determined that Child Q’s ethnicity played a role in her maltreatment and de Souza’s report raises further concern over the disproportionate number of black children subjected to strip-searching. Among the young boys that were strip-searched, 58 per cent were black. In 2018, this figure reached 75 per cent.
Responding to de Souza’s report, Iryna Pona, policy manager at The Children’s Society, emphasised concern over the adultification of black children in particular: “Sadly we often support children who have been groomed and coerced into crimes like county lines drug dealing only to be treated as adults who have made a wilful decision, rather than offered support as victims of exploitation.
“When police officers arrest or stop and search children this should be a golden opportunity to identify risks like grooming and exploitation and work with other services to offer protection and help.”
Overall, 53 per cent of searches did not result in further action, bringing into question the extent to which strip-searches on children are justified or necessary.
A Met Police spokesman said: “The Metropolitan Police is progressing at pace work to ensure children subject to intrusive searches are dealt with appropriately and respectfully. We recognise the significant impact such searches can have.
“We have already made changes and continue to work hard to balance the policing need for this type of search with the considerable impact it can have on young people.
“We have ensured our officers and staff have a refreshed understanding of the policy for conducting a ‘further search’, particularly around the requirement for an appropriate adult to be present. We have also given officers advice around dealing with schools, ensuring that children are treated as children and considering safeguarding for those under 18.
“More widely we have reviewed the policy for ‘further searches’ for those aged under 18. This is to assure ourselves the policy is appropriate and that it recognises the fact a child in these circumstances may well be a vulnerable victim of exploitation by others involved in gangs, county lines and drug dealing.
“To ensure we have very clear control over this type of search, we have introduced new measures across the Met. As well as requiring a discussion with their supervisor before seeking authority for a more thorough search and the presence of an appropriate adult, an inspector from a local command unit must now give authority before the search takes place to ensure appropriate oversight. A Merlin report must also be submitted, to ensure safeguarding the child is the priority. The Merlin system contains information about a child coming to police attention.”
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