half of which didn't have a legally required adult representative at the time of the search]/url]Police are strip-searching children in their patrol cars, the Children’s Commissioner has revealed in a “disturbing” new report.
Almost 3,000 children were strip-searched by police in England and Wales between 2018 and mid-2022, according to the report by Dame Rachel de Souza.
Nearly a quarter of incidents involved a child aged between 10 and 15, while the youngest recorded case concerned an eight-year-old.
The findings are published in a “disturbing” new report, which warns that “police are failing to properly safeguard children”.
Among 2,847 cases identified by Dame Rachel were 14 examples of children being strip-searched inside police vehicles or schools.
While the location was not recorded in 45 per cent of cases, other places where children were searched included private businesses, takeaway outlets, and amusement parks.
Furthermore, 1 per cent were conducted within public view, and 6 per cent of strip-searches were conducted with at least one officer of a different gender than the child being searched present.
More than half took place without a designated appropriate adult present, showing widespread failures to comply with statutory codes of practice for strip searching children.
in other unsurprising news, they search black kids at far higher rates than white kids
