In England and Wales, police conduct a strip search on a child approximately every 19 hours, often without proper execution, and disproportionately target Black children, according to the UK's Children's Commissioner, who spoke on Monday.
Strip searches of minors have become a critical issue in discussions about police behavior since 2022, sparked by widespread criticism over a London police search of a 15-year-old Black girl in 2020, conducted while she was menstruating after teachers reported a cannabis smell. No drugs were discovered.
The Commissioner's investigation, aimed at safeguarding children's rights, utilized police data to reveal that 457 searches were performed on children from July 2022 to June 2023, averaging one every 19 hours.
Children's Commissioner Rachel de Souza emphasized the need for a higher standard before subjecting a child to a potentially humiliating and traumatic search involving exposure of intimate areas.
Most of these searches, allowed under stringent conditions, were linked to suspected drug offenses, with nearly half concluding without further action. Data indicated that 4% of strip searches from January 2018 to June 2023 did not adhere to statutory codes, and an additional 11% raised concerns. The Home Office acknowledged improvements but stressed the need for higher standards.
During the period of July 2022 to June 2023, over 50 searches were conducted in public, violating guidelines. Black children were four times more likely to undergo strip searches compared to the general population, a decrease from six times the rate in the preceding four years.
The report did not delve into the reasons behind this disparity but referenced broader studies highlighting significant ethnic disparities within the criminal justice system. The police watchdog examining the 2020 'Child Q' case recommended that three officers face a gross misconduct hearing for breaches, including racial and gender discrimination.
De Souza noted a decline in the total number of child strip searches, which had occurred roughly every 14 hours between 2018 and 2023, and observed improvements in police documentation accuracy.
