Met Police sergeant and three constables investigated over strip search of ... trends now
Four Metropolitan Police officers are being investigated over the arrest of a 15-year-old schoolgirl who was strip-searched in south east London - echoing the now notorious Child Q case that sparked protests in the capital last year.
A sergeant and three constables have been handed misconduct notices in connection with the girl's detention at Walworth Police Station on December 11, 2020, while the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) investigates.
The girl was held just eight days after Child Q, also a 15-year-old girl, was strip-searched at a school in Hackney, east London - also by four officers - while menstruating because teachers thought they could smell cannabis on her.
A Child Safeguarding Practices Review later said racism was 'likely' a factor in Child Q being searched. The identity or race of the girl in the Walworth case has not been revealed.
Four Metropolitan Police officers are being investigated over the arrest of a 15-year-old schoolgirl who was strip-searched in south east London (stock image)
People protest outside Stoke Newington Police Station in London, over the treatment of Child Q, a black 15-year-old schoolgirl who was strip-searched by police while on her period
An IOPC spokesman explained that misconduct notices inform officers that they are being investigated, but doesn't necessarily mean there has been any wrongdoing in the Walworth case.
He said: 'We can confirm that four Metropolitan Police Service officers have been served misconduct notices as part of our ongoing investigation.
'A Police Sergeant and three Police Constables have been served notices in relation to the arrest and detention of the child, who was strip searched by officers.
'Our investigation began following a referral in May 2022.'
He added: 'The serving of misconduct notices does not necessarily mean disciplinary proceedings will follow.
'Due to the sensitivities surrounding this matter, we cannot provide any further information at this time.'
It is the the latest in a series of scandals to hit Scotland Yard in recent months.
The Met was described as 'an institution in crisis' by Andrea Simon, director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition (EVAW), after firearms officer David Carrick, 48, pleaded guilty to 49 offences involving 12 women earlier this week.
The Child Q case sparked a wave of protests last year, with hundreds gathering at Hackney town hall, after it emerged the teenager was searched without another adult present and in the knowledge that she was menstruating.
It comes as new figures show almost 1,000 police officers are now operating in schools across Britain, with charities fearing their presence at the institutions is being 'normalised'.
Some 979 police officers are based in schools, according to a Freedom of Information request to 45 police forces by the Runnymede Trust think tank.
Half of Safer Schools Officers (SSOs), or their police force-based equivalents, are based in London.
The Child Q case sparked a wave of protests, with hundreds gathering at Hackney town hall (pictured), after it emerged the teenager was searched without another adult present and in the knowledge that she was menstruating
Some 979 police officers are based in schools, according to a Freedom of Information request to 45 police forces by the Runnymede Trust (file image)
Research suggests that officers are more likely to be in schools in areas with higher numbers of pupils eligible for free school meals.
Such areas are also likely to have higher numbers of black and ethnic minority students, the Runnymede Trust said.
The race equality think tank said placing SSOs in schools 'can facilitate the school-to-prison pipeline' for many black and ethnic minority young
