Children as young as EIGHT are being strip-searched by police outside fast food outlets, theme parks
- peterpritchard8
- Mar 27, 2023
- 10 min read
Total of 2,847 child strip-searches took place between 2018 and mid-2022 . Searches occurred in police vehicles, schools, takeaways and amusement parks By NATASHA ANDERSON
PUBLISHED: 12:36, 27 March 2023 | UPDATED: 14:24, 27 March 2023
Children aged as young as eight have been subject to strip-searches by police including outside fast-food shops and theme parks without an appropriate adult present, a shocking new report has revealed.
Nearly 3,000 strip-searches of children aged between eight and 17 took place across England and Wales between 2018 and mid-2022, according to the Children's Commissioner report released today.
The searches occurred in police vehicles and schools, with a small number even taking place in takeaways and amusement parks. Data showed that more than half the searches were conducted without an appropriate adult confirmed to be present.
Black children are six times more likely to be strip-searched by police when compared with national population figures, an investigation has found.
Children's Commissioner Rachel de Souza said the findings demonstrated 'evidence of deeply concerning practice' with 'widespread non-compliance' with statutory safeguards.
Dame Rachel, who ordered the study after the 'Child Q' scandal came to light last March, added that children are 'being failed by those whose job it is to protect them'.
Nearly 3,000 strip-searches of children aged between eight and 17 took place across England and Wales between 2018 and mid-2022, shocking new figures reveal
The above graphic shows the number of strip searches of children under stop and search powers reported by police forces in England and Wales between 2018 and mid-2022
The latest data, published today and showing figures for forces across England and Wales, revealed a total of 2,847 child strip-searches took place between 2018 and mid-2022.
One per cent of strip-searches were conducted 'within public view', the report said, although the location was not recorded in 45 per cent of cases .A total of 52 per cent of strip-searches were conducted without an appropriate adult confirmed to be present.
The presence of an appropriate adult is required by law, except in cases of 'urgency', and is usually a parent or guardian but can also be a social worker, carer or volunteer.
The commissioner said she has 'serious concerns about the poor quality of record-keeping, which makes transparency and scrutiny very difficult, and means that the numbers in this report may only be a minimum'.
'You are not meant to strip search in the back of vans, in the back of police vans, in schools - it's really not acceptable, and without appropriate adults,' Dame Rachel told Good Morning Britain this morning.
'It is the most intimate search and there is a visual. So it's all clothes off, a visual look at private parts and even touching and moving them.
'I've got examples of children who are telling me that they were strip-searched four times and their parents weren't even told.'
She added: 'At the very least you'd want that you'd want the police to be telling parents and making sure there was a parent there, but no it's not been happening.'
Among her recommendations Dame Rachel is calling for 'urgency' to be removed as an exception and said constant supervision should be recommended.
Six per cent of strip-searches were conducted with at least one officer of a different gender than the child being searched present, the report added.
Dame Rachel said while she accepted that strip-searching children can be necessary in limited situations, it is an 'intrusive and potentially traumatic power' which must be subject to 'robust safeguards'.
She said: 'The additional complexity of conducting these searches during a stop and search should mean that there is a higher degree of scrutiny than if conducted in custody, not less.'
The searches occurred in police vehicles and schools, with a small number even taking place in takeaways and amusement parks, the report revealed.
James Watkins, who was strip-searched in the back of a police van at age 17 without an adult present, said he felt 'violated' and 'humiliated' because there was 'nothing I could do about it.'
The youth violence prevention campaigner recalled how he was in the back of a van with six or seven officers who pulled down his trousers and were 'looking in places that made me feel very uncomfortable.'
Mr Watkins told Good Morning Britain today: 'The only thing they didn't take off was my boxers, but everything else came off.'
He shared that the officers didn't explain what they were looking for, only that he 'fit the description' of someone they were searching for in the area.
'I was very angry for years,' he said. 'This was the experience of a lot of friends. It was normal - that felt like normality to me that it is us against them. He added: 'It was definitely illegal.'
There were protests last March (pictured) after it emerged a 15-year-old black schoolgirl was strip-searched by police while on her period after being wrongly suspected of carrying cannabis at school
James Watkins, who was strip-searched in the back of a police van at age 17 without an adult present, said he felt 'violated' and 'humiliated' because there was 'nothing I could do about it'
Dame Rachel ordered the study after the 'Child Q' scandal came to light last March.
In that case a 15-year-old black schoolgirl was strip-searched by police while on her period after being wrongly suspected of carrying cannabis at school.
Scotland Yard apologised and said the strip-search at the girl's school in 2020 without another adult present 'should never have happened'.
After those revelations Dame Rachel requested figures for strip-searches by the Metropolitan Police force which showed in August that more than 600 children underwent 'intrusive and traumatising' searches over a two-year period.
The latest findings across England and Wales revealed that the vast majority - 95 per cent - of children strip-searched were boys, while 5 per cent of such searches were carried out on girls.
The report showed showed that black children are up to six times more likely to be strip searched when compared to national population figures.
Strip Searches of Children in 2018 to Mid-2022, by Police Force
Here is a list of the number of strip searches of children under stop and search powers reported by police forces in England and Wales between 2018 and mid-2022.
The figures have been published by the office of the Children's Commissioner for England (CCo).
A total of 2,847 strip searches were reported, but as not all forces responded to the CCo request and due to the poor quality of data, this number should be considered as a minimum.
No data was reported for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Dyfed-Powys, Gloucestershire and Nottinghamshire.
The list reads as follows: name of police force; number of searches; percentage share of total searches.
To prevent disclosure, some counts have been rounded to the nearest 10.
Avon & Somerset 74; 3%
British Transport Police 45; 2%
Cheshire 10; under 1%
City of London under 10; under 1%
Cleveland under 10; under 1%
Cumbria under 10; under 1%
Derbyshire 19; under 1%
Devon & Cornwall 33; 1%
Dorset 67; 2%
Durham 0; 0%
Essex 139; 5%
Greater Manchester 20; under 1%
Gwent 14; under 1%
Hampshire & Isle of Wight 133; 5%
Hertfordshire 202; 7%
Humberside 20; under 1%
Kent 133; 5%
Lancashire 56; 2%
Leicestershire 23; under 1%
Lincolnshire 17; under 1%
Merseyside 150; 5%
Metropolitan Police 891; 31%
Norfolk 14; under 1%
North Wales 12; under 1%
North Yorkshire 37; 1%
Northamptonshire 54; 2%
Northumbria under 10; under 1%
South Wales 108; 4%
South Yorkshire 16; under 1%
Staffordshire 14; under 1%
Suffolk 48; 2%
Surrey 80; 3%
Sussex 50; 2%
Thames Valley 181; 6%
Warwickshire 13; under 1%
West Mercia under 10; under 1%
West Midlands 68; 2%
West Yorkshire 43; 2%
Wiltshire 28; under 1%
It stated that for the period 2018 to mid-2022 across England and Wales, 42 per cent of children searched were white, 38 per cent were black and 14 per cent were Asian.
Five per cent were of unknown ethnicity or did not have their ethnicity recorded during the search.
Compared to national population figures, white children were disproportionately less likely to be searched - around half as likely.
The report described this as a 'pronounced and deeply concerning ethnic disproportionality' and Dame Rachel branded it 'utterly unacceptable'.
When it comes to reasons for searches, the report revealed that 86 per cent were conducted on suspicion of someone carrying drugs, 9 per cent on suspicion of having weapons, points and blades and 2 per cent related to stolen property.
In almost a quarter of cases where children have been strip-searched by police, nothing was found, the research said.
The report said it was 'of particular interest' that while nothing was found in 23 per cent of all strip searches, for 1 percent of these cases the child was arrested.
Among its recommendations, the report said the National Police Chief's Council (NPCC) should publish an action plan on reforming stop and search practices, including strip searches, of children.
It also called on the organisation to update its child-first approach to policing and publish a comprehensive strategy for ensuring that every police force takes a safeguarding first approach to policing children.
Dame Rachel said attention on the issue had not come about due to a police whistleblower or a damning inspection report, but 'the bravery of a girl to speak up about a traumatic thing that happened to her', referring to the case of Child Q.
The commissioner warned that officers are too often 'forgetting that children are children' as she called for a strengthening of the guidelines around strip-searches, more oversight and inspection to ensure compliance, and reform of a culture 'that has allowed this to go unchallenged'.
Among her 17 recommendations, Dame Rachel called on the Home Office to carry out a comprehensive review of the legislative and policy framework for child strip-searches and make specific changes to the Police and Criminal Evidence (Pace) Codes.
Among these, and regarding the requirement for an appropriate adult to be present for strip-searches of children in custody and under stop and search powers, she said it must only be 'the most exceptional situations where there is serious risk to the child's life or welfare' where this is not the case.
She said schools should be excluded as an appropriate location for a strip-search and that they should only be conducted at a nearby police station, medical premises or home address.
Dame Rachel said the Home Office should require forces to report annually on the strip-searching of children, including recording ethnicity, whether an appropriate adult was present, the specific location and whether a safeguarding referral was made.
A Home Office spokesperson said: 'Strip-search is one of the most intrusive powers available to the police. No-one should be subject to strip-search on the basis of race or ethnicity and safeguards exist to prevent this.
'Any child subject to a strip search should be accompanied by an appropriate adult unless there is an urgent risk of serious harm, or where the child specifically requests otherwise and the appropriate adult agrees. Such searches must be carried out by an officer of the same sex as the child.
'We take the concerns raised about children's safeguarding extremely seriously. The Independent Office for Police Conduct is currently investigating several high-profile incidents of strip-search of children and it is vital that we await their findings.'
Dame Rachel also said the National Police Chiefs' Council should also publish an action plan on reforming stop and search practices, including strip-searches of children.
She said: 'I find it completely unacceptable that police forces in England and Wales are largely unable to account for the necessity, circumstance and safeguarding outcome of every strip-search of a child that they conduct.
'I will not accept that the power to strip-search is being used responsibly until that is the case.'
The Children's Commissioner's office said it 'eagerly anticipates' recommendations to be made by the Independent Office for Police Conduct which is investigating the Child Q case.
Meanwhile, NPCC lead for the ethics and integrity portfolio, Chief Constable Craig Guildford, said they will 'carefully consider the findings' of Dame Rachel's report.
He said: 'We welcome outside scrutiny and the report from the Children's Commissioner. We recognise the important role that police have in ensuring the safety of young and vulnerable people and take all concerns raised incredibly seriously.
'It is vital that any police interaction is handled sensitively, and that when an officer considers it necessary to search a child that it is carried out in line with legislation, policy, and procedure.
'In rare circumstances when a more thorough search where intimate parts are exposed is necessary, additional safeguards are in place.
'On all but exceptional occasions, such as an immediate risk of harm to the young person, this must involve the presence of an appropriate adult.
'We are working closely with the College of Policing, IOPC, and other partners in order to inform best practice and to implement positive change wherever it is required.'
The latest findings across England and Wales will heap pressure on police - and Scotland Yard in particular following Louise Casey's investigation that concluded the force is 'institutionally racist'.
Charities are criticising the findings of Dame Rachel's report as 'shameful' and called for officer training to be reviewed in order to ensure young people are kept safe.
Sarah Wayman, head of systematic impact at the Children's Society, said today: 'These figures expose, yet again, how black children are disproportionately represented and subjected to this traumatising and intrusive practice.
'Police leaders and the Government need to urgently investigate why so many children are still being strip searched despite clear national guidance which states that this should happen only when absolutely necessary, and with an appropriate adult present - we already know of examples where safeguards for children are not being followed.
'Officers should always have in mind how this process can be harmful and distressing to young people.
'It's vital that guidance and training for officers is reviewed to ensure that when police officers come into contact with children, their first priority is about identifying the risks of exploitation and working with other services to offer protection and help.'
The Runnymede Trust said children 'are being failed by the state institutions there to protect them'.
The race equality think tank noted the timing of the report, coming not long after a damning review of the Metropolitan Police concluded the force is institutionally racist, misogynist and homophobic.
In a statement, the trust said: 'Less than a week after Baroness Casey's scathing report into the Metropolitan Police which unequivocally, once again, concluded that the Met is institutionally racist, the findings of this report are even harder to absorb.
'Black children are six times more likely to be strip searched, and over half of strip searches result in no further action. The numbers in the report refer to children being forced to expose their bodies in inappropriate spaces, often without an appropriate adult present, under the protection of a body which we know has lost the trust of the nation.
'It highlights that officers are often unable to justify the necessity of strip-searching, nor can they report on the safeguarding impact on the child concerned. Quite the contrary. It also confirms that our policing crisis is not just confined to London, it is national.
'Minoritised people have repeatedly borne the brunt of grave misuses of police powers for generations. It is shameful that even our children are not extended protection by the police, but this is, sadly, not news.'
The trust said the power of police to strip-search children 'should be revoked' and added that 'police officers have no routine place in our children's schools'.
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