British police criticised over child strip search failings

By William James

LONDON (Reuters) - Police in England and Wales strip search a child every 19 hours, sometimes fail to carry out those searches correctly, and disproportionately search Black children, the country's Children's Commissioner said on Monday.

Strip searches of children became a focal point of broader police conduct concern in 2022 following widespread condemnation of a search two years earlier by London police of a 15-year-old Black girl while she was menstruating, because teachers said she smelt of cannabis at school.

No drugs were found during the search.

The investigation by the commissioner, whose role is to protect children's rights, cited police data to show 457 searches were conducted on children between July 2022 and June 2023 - equivalent to one every 19 hours.

"A much higher threshold should be met before a child is subjected to a humiliating and traumatising search that exposes intimate parts," Children's Commissioner Rachel de Souza said.

The vast majority of such searches, which are permitted under strict conditions, were related to suspected drugs offences. Almost half resulted in no further action being taken.

Data showed 4% of strip searches between January 2018 and June 2023 were not compliant with statutory codes of practice and a further 11% were of concern.

Britain's Home Office, which oversees policing, said improvements had been made but standards needed to rise.

Between July 2022 and June 2023 more than 50 searches were conducted in public view, contrary to guidelines.

Over the same period, Black children were four times more likely to be strip searched compared with the overall population, down from six times over the previous four years.

The report did not analyse the reason for this disparity but cited previously published broader inquiries to highlight "substantial ethnic disparities" in the criminal justice system.

The police watchdog investigating the 2020 search of the girl known only as 'Child Q' said three officers should face a gross misconduct hearing for breaches that included discriminating against her because of her race and sex.

De Souza said she was encouraged that the total number of child strip searches appeared to be declining - they were carried out roughly one every 14 hours between 2018 and 2023 - and there were signs police were recording details more accurately.

(Reporting by William James; Editing by Ros Russell)