Nearly 700 children have been strip-searched by London’s Metropolitan Police over a period of two years, most of them black boys, a new report has revealed.
According to the figures released by the Children’s Commissioner, kids aged from 10 to 17 underwent the ‘intrusive and traumatising’ strip searches between 2018 and 2020, in which almost three out of five (58 per cent) were black, and more than 95 per cent were boys.
The revelation comes close to the heels of the Child Q scandal in which a teenage black girl on her period was told to strip naked for a drug search by police without another adult present. No drugs were found.
Expressing concern over the ethnic imbalance, Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza, who published the report on Monday, said the Child Q incident was not isolated and represented a ‘systemic problem’ within the Met.
“I am not reassured that what happened to Child Q was an isolated issue, but instead believe it may be a particularly concerning example of a more systemic problem around child protection within the Metropolitan Police,” she was quoted as saying.
“I remain unconvinced that the Metropolitan Police is consistently considering children’s welfare and wellbeing,’ she added.
De Souza questioned the necessity of this “intrusive and traumatising” practice after data revealed that in 53 per cent of cases no further action was taken.
“This low level of successful searches arguably indicates that this intrusive practice may well not be justified or necessary in all cases,” she was quoted as saying by The Guardian.
She also raised concerns about “a lack of appropriate oversight” on police practising strip searches after the data revealed that in one in five cases there was no way of knowing where it even took place.
Meanwhile, four Metropolitan Police officers are being questioned for gross misconduct by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) in connection with the Child Q incident.
They have apologised and said it “should never have happened”.
This is not the first time Met has been accused of exhibiting racial bias. According to a 1999 report, the Met was found to be “institutionally racist”.
(With inputs from agencies)
WATCH WION LIVE HERE
