The Metropolitan Police strip-searches children without an adult present in over a quarter of cases, with black boys being disproportionately targeted, according to new data.
Kevin Donohue has represented youngsters who have been through the experience in other parts of the country. He says: “An apology is insufficient. Compensation is insufficient.”
The investigation, which was published by the children’s commissioner for England, indicated that between 2018 and 2020, officers from the force performed intrusive searches on 650 youths aged 10 to 17.
It was commissioned in response to the case of Child Q, a 15-year-old black girl who was strip-searched at her east London school without an adult present. She was falsely accused of possessing cannabis.
The Children’s Commissioner, Dame Rachel de Souza, stated that the case was incorrectly referred to as “unique.”
She elaborated: “In a strip search, the most personal portions of the body are examined. This will be distressing and troubling for children of any age.”
Unless there is an emergency, the law requires a responsible adult to be present.
19 out of 20 of the 650 people who were searched over the course of three years were male, and 58 percent were characterized by the officer as being black.
Katrina Ffrench, founder and director of Unjust UK, described the statistics as “very horrifying.
She went on: “The high numbers indicate that the Metropolitan Police’s treatment of London’s black neighborhoods is problematic.
“Unfortunately, young black youngsters do not enjoy the same privileges and innocence as their white contemporaries.”
In 2018, more than two-thirds of those who were strip-searched alone were black boys.
Kevin Donohue has represented youngsters who have been through the experience in other parts of the country.
“The repercussions for these youngsters are tremendous,” he stated. “The reoccurring themes and sentiments I have encountered while treating these situations are those of intrusion.
“It is an irreversible occurrence that police officers have violated a person’s integrity and bodily autonomy, which has been violated with great severity.
“An apology is insufficient. Compensation is insufficient.”
Four cops are being investigated for gross misconduct in the Child Q case, and a serious case review has been conducted.
The Metropolitan Police stated in a statement that it is “making rapid progress” to ensuring that youngsters subject to intrusive searches are treated with dignity.
And additional safeguards have been implemented needing an inspector’s approval before a search.
They added: “We have ensured that our officers and employees have a revised understanding of the rules for conducting a ‘further search,’, particularly about the presence of a responsible adult.
We also advised officers on how to interact with schools, ensure that youngsters are treated as children, and consider the protection of individuals under 18 years old.
In over half of all strip searches of children, no further action was taken.
The Children’s Commissioner is left wondering why so many are conducted in the first place.
She is particularly concerned about “data gaps” noted by the Metropolitan Police.
“For around one-fifth of the strip-searches, they cannot even tell me where they occurred; therefore, data collecting must be improved.”
