Child strip searches down but widespread safeguarding failures remain – report

The number of child strip searches by police forces across England and Wales appears to be falling but safeguarding failures remain a problem, according to a report from the Children’s Commissioner.

There were 3,368 strip searches of children carried out by 44 police forces – including British Transport Police – between January 2018 and June 2023, according to data provided by forces to the commissioner.

Dame Rachel de Souza said her report is a first of its kind, giving a complete analysis of strip searches for this five-and-a-half-year period, using her statutory powers to request the data.

The high-profile case of Child Q, a 15-year-old schoolgirl strip searched in 2020 having been wrongly accused of possessing cannabis, prompted outrage when it emerged in 2022, and has been described by the commissioner as “shocking” and something which should not happen again.

The girl, who is black, was strip searched while on her period with no appropriate adult present at a school in Hackney, east London. Scotland Yard later apologised.

Three Metropolitan Police officers are facing allegations of gross misconduct over the search, with a hearing date yet to be confirmed.

Dame Rachel’s latest report shows the number of strip searches – those exposing intimate parts – under stop and search of children in England and Wales in 2022 was 42% lower than in 2020.

There was a “sharp reduction” in the proportion of all searches in London from 2021, with a “striking change” between 2018 and June 2023, the report said.

With the report coming not long after violent street disorder in parts of the UK, Dame Rachel spoke of the need for a “culture of trust to be built between children and the police”, given the “vital importance of responsive, trusted policing in our communities” seen this summer.

The latest research shows data for July 2022 to June 2023 for the first time.

Black children across the two nations were four times more likely to be searched compared with national population figures, although this was an improvement on the 2018-22 period when they were six times more likely to be searched.

The commissioner said while the disparity has reduced, the disproportionate number of searches experienced by black children “remains a critical concern”.

Between July 2022 and June 2023, 88% of searches were conducted on suspicion of drugs, and 6% on suspicion of carrying weapons.

Some 457 searches were carried out on children between July 2022 and June 2023 across the two nations, half of which led to no further action.

The commissioner said this statistic calls into question “the necessity of such an intrusive search in the first place”.

In what Dame Rachel said was an indication that more children are receiving support after a strip search, her report showed the majority of police forces have made procedural changes to how they are carried out and that nearly half of searches between July 2022 and June 2023 saw a safeguarding referral – a “significant increase” from previous years.

She said the data shows “some green shoots of progress in how the police carry out and record strip searches on children” and added that she is “cautiously optimistic about the potential to overcome entrenched systemic challenges”.

She said: “I am particularly reassured by the progress in London by the Metropolitan Police, but today’s research serves as a stark reminder that this is not an isolated issue in the capital.

“A much higher threshold should be met before a child is subjected to a humiliating and traumatising intimate search.”

She said there remains “urgent work to be done: too many strip searches carried out are unnecessary, unsafe and underreported”.

New guidelines for police were proposed in April, including raising the minimum rank of authorisation for a child strip search to police inspector and requiring a parent or guardian to be informed.

The report also appeared to show a rise in searches in Wales, although one Welsh force said it had mistakenly provided incorrect data which had contributed to a higher overall figure.

While England accounted for the majority (88%) of searches in this period, Wales accounted for 11%, which the report said was a six percentage point increase compared with 2018-June 2022 figures.

Wales’s child strip search rate of 1.72 searches per 10,000 10 to 17-year-olds was around six times higher than the lowest rate, in Yorkshire and the Humber (0.3 per 10,000) for the period from July 2022 to June 2023, the report said.

For that period, initial data showed Dyfed-Powys was the police force area with the highest search rate (0.07), followed by Merseyside and Northamptonshire (both 0.04), Durham (0.03) and Suffolk (0.02).

The authors cautioned that the finding of higher searches in Wales may in part be a result of better data quality and said their analysis assumes that each strip search is of a different child when it may be that some children are strip searched more than once.

But Dyfed-Powys Police has since said the data it provided earlier this year was incorrect, and that only one strip search was carried out on a child during the time the report covers, which would affect the data for the rest of Wales.

The force said: “We regret this mistake being made, and the concern it will have caused our communities to see such a high figure linked to our force.

“A review of the process is being carried out to ensure this does not happen again.”

Chief Constable Craig Guildford, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for ethics and integrity, said: “We always welcome the Children’s Commissioner’s reports and the accountability that comes with it.

“Police have an important role in ensuring the safety of young and vulnerable people and that each interaction with them is fair and handled with sensitivity.

“If an officer considers it necessary to search a child, this must be carried out in line with legislation, policy, and procedure and that safeguards are in place.

“Work with partners continues in order to inform best practice and to implement positive change wherever it is required.

“We will carefully consider the findings from the Children’s Commissioner as part of this work.”