Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Kelly-Ann Mills

Worst police forces for strip searching children as young as eight ranked

More than 2,800 strip searches on children as young as eight have been recorded across England and Wales, with more than half taking place without an appropriate adult present.

The strip searches have been carried out by police forces across the country - although some have not given any data to the report.

The research was prompted by the Children’s Commissioner’s after she made a promise to Child Q telling her she would try to stop what happened to her, happening to another child.

Child Q is a 15-year-old black girl who was stripped by four female Met Police officers after she was wrongly accused of possessing cannabis, last March.

At the time Child Q said: “Someone walked into the school, where I was supposed to feel safe, took me away from the people who were supposed to protect me and stripped me naked, while on my period.

"On the top of preparing for the most important exams of my life. I can't go a single day without wanting to scream, shout, cry or just give up.

"I feel like I'm locked in a box, and no one can see or cares that I just want to go back to feeling safe again, my box is collapsing around me, and no-one wants to help.

More than half had no appropriate adult present (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

"I don’t know if I’m going to feel normal again. I don’t know how long it will take to repair my box. But I do know this can't happen to anyone, ever again."

Dame Rachel de Souza said the findings demonstrate “evidence of deeply concerning practice” with “widespread non-compliance” with statutory safeguards, and added that children are “being failed by those whose job it is to protect them”.

The research, showing data for forces across England and Wales, revealed that a total of 2,847 strip-searches took place between 2018 and mid-2022 of children aged between eight and 17.

The vast majority of youngsters strip-searched were boys (95%).

About 38% of children strip-searched were black, and the report found that black youngsters were up to six times more likely to be strip-searched when compared with national population figures, while white children were around half as likely to be searched.

The report described this as a “pronounced and deeply concerning ethnic disproportionality” and Dame Rachel branded it “utterly unacceptable”.

Scotland Yard apologised and said the strip-search at the girl’s school in 2020 without another adult present “should never have happened”.

Speaking on LBC radio, Policing minister Chris Philp said he will be taking up the findings of the report with the police.

But added strip-searches are necessary on occasion because drug dealers get young people to hide drugs in intimate body cavities.

“Where they get young people to do that, often it is coercive, often those young people are being exploited, and it is vital that we identify that exploitation so the young people concerned can be safeguarded,” he said.

“Sometimes the only way of doing that is to search an intimate body cavity. When that happens it is vital that it is done according to the codes of practice.

“Dame Rachel’s report identifies occasions when that isn’t happening. That deeply concerns me and I am going to be taking that up with the policing community to make sure those codes of practice are being followed.”

Charities have criticised the findings of the report as “shameful” and called for officer training to be reviewed in order to ensure young people are kept safe.

How many strip searches of children were carried out by your local force?

Metropolitan Police Service 891

Hertfordshire Constabulary 202

Thames Valley Police 181

Merseyside Police 150

Essex Police 139

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary 133

Kent Police 133

South Wales Police 108

Surrey Police 80

Avon and Somerset Constabulary 74

West Midlands Police 68

Dorset Police 67

Lancashire Constabulary 56

Northamptonshire Police 54

Sussex Police 50

Suffolk Constabulary 48

British Transport Police 45

West Yorkshire Police 43

North Yorkshire Police 37

Devon and Cornwall Police 33

Wiltshire Police 28

Leicestershire Police 23

Greater Manchester Police 20

Humberside Police 20

Derbyshire Constabulary 19

Lincolnshire Police 17

South Yorkshire Police 16

Gwent Police 14

Norfolk Constabulary 14

Staffordshire Police 14

Warwickshire Police 13

North Wales Police 12

Cheshire Constabulary 10

City of London Police under 10

Cleveland Police under 10

Cumbria Constabulary under 10

Northumbria Police under 10

West Mercia Police under 10

Durham Constabulary 0

Total 2,847

No data was give to the Children's Commissioner for her report from:

Bedfordshire Police

Cambridgeshire Constabulary

Dyfed-Powys Police

Gloucestershire Constabulary

Nottinghamshire Police

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.