The Children’s Commissioner has criticised the Metropolitan Police’s response to the “shocking” number of children who have been strip-searched, saying “sorry isn’t good enough”.
Dame Rachel de Souza obtained data from Scotland Yard showing that 650 children were strip-searched between 2018 and 2020. Of those, almost a quarter took place without an “appropriate adult” — such as a parent or social worker — confirmed to have been present. This is required by law, except in cases of “urgency”.
Speaking on BBC Radio London today, Dame Rachel said she asked the Met why so many searches took place without an appropriate adult present, adding: “I am not satisfied with the response.”
The Metropolitan Police said officers were getting more training and there now had to be permission from an inspector before a strip-search is carried out.
Dame Rachel said: “We need to see proper training, we need to see real safeguarding in action. It’s not just enough to get sign off; we need to be thinking about keeping children safe and well.”
She added she was so concerned by the data from the Met that she was now asking for the same information from every UK police force.
She said: “This is children’s lives, this is a serious intrusive search and we need to make sure the rules are followed.
“Sorry isn’t good enough. Sorry needs to mean this won’t happen again.”
