Monday 8 August 2022 06:31 PM Met Police strip-searched 650 children aged ten to 17 in three years trends now
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The Metropolitan Police strip-searched 650 children in three years – with six in ten of them black boys – a watchdog has revealed.
The Children’s Commissioner published data from Scotland Yard showing the youngsters aged ten to 17 were strip-searched from 2018 to 2020.
In 23 per cent of cases there was no ‘appropriate adult’ – such as a parent or social worker – present, contrary to guidelines. And no further action was taken in 53 per cent of all strip-searches of children.
A report published today by Children’s Commissioner for England Dame Rachel de Souza says: ‘We question whether this low level of successful searches indicates that this intrusive practice is justified or necessary in all cases.’
In 23 per cent of cases there was no ‘appropriate adult’ – such as a parent or social worker – present, contrary to guidelines. And no further action was taken in 53 per cent of all strip-searches of children
The figures showed 95 per cent of strip-searches were carried out against boys, with 58 per cent of them black – 20 per cent were white, 16 per cent Asian, and the remainder given as ‘other’ or unrecorded.
A series of cases emerged
