In the wake of the case of Child Q, a 15-year-old Black girl who was subjected to a traumatic strip search by police at her school in Hackney, the Children’s Commissioner launched an extensive investigation into the practice of strip-searching children by police forces.
Initially focusing on the Metropolitan Police, the findings revealed a system rife with issues, including a lack of transparency, poor scrutiny, and widespread non-compliance with statutory codes meant to safeguard children.
In a new report spanning data from 2018 to 2023, the Commissioner’s investigation highlights that these problems are far from isolated. Nationwide data show systemic failures across police forces in England and Wales, with troubling practices that put children at risk. While senior police officers assert that strip searches are necessary in specific circumstances, such as immediate threats of harm, the majority of these searches are conducted on mere suspicion of drug-related offenses. Almost half of the searches result in no further action, suggesting that many of these invasive procedures could have been avoided.
The report also shines a light on the racial disparity in strip searches, with Black children being disproportionately targeted. Although the rate has decreased from six times more likely to four times more likely than the national average, the data still reveals an urgent need to address this inequality. The total number of strip searches is in decline, and there has been a noticeable increase in police forces making safeguarding referrals for children post-search.
Strip searches conducted under stop and search powers are often performed in high-tension, less controlled environments, with police officers frequently failing to record key details about vulnerable children, such as those in care or at risk of exploitation. Safeguarding procedures remain inadequate, relying heavily on frontline officers without sufficient oversight or training in child protection.
The Commissioner calls for a holistic approach to safeguarding that goes beyond the police, urging collaboration with health, social care, education, and youth services to ensure that vulnerable children receive the necessary mental health and neurodiversity support. The report emphasises that children must be treated as such, with their safety and well-being prioritised in every interaction with law enforcement. The Commissioner said:
“My sustained attention on this issue stems not from internal whistle-blowers or inspection reports but from the bravery of a girl speaking out about her traumatic experience. There is an urgent need to strengthen guidance around strip searches, ensure oversight and inspection, and reform a culture that has allowed non-compliance to go unchallenged. It is unacceptable that police forces across England and Wales cannot adequately account for the necessity, circumstances, and safeguarding outcomes of every strip search of a child they have conducted.
The way these searches have been conducted indicates that police too often forget that children are children. The primary duty of the police, as with all professionals, should be to protect children from harm. We must strive for a system where an officer encountering a child suspected of carrying drugs or a weapon prioritises their safety first, always.”
