Between 2018 and 2020, approximately 650 young men and women, from 10 to 17 years old, underwent this type of physical examination. 58% of them were described by the police as black; over 95% were boys.
The commissioner for childhood in England today expressed her concern in front of the extent that the refuge has taken from the police in undressing children to be submitted to physical examinations: recorded 650 such incidents in two years, the vast majority of them against black teenagers.
After the uproar caused by the body search he suffered in 2020 15 year old black teenage girl, the Children’s Commissioner Rachel de Souza, responsible for the protection of children’s rights, demanded that Scotland Yard provide statistics on the matter.
Between 2018 and 2020, around 650 young men and women, aged 10 to 17, underwent this type of body searches, according to figures revealed today. 58% of them were described by the police as black; over 95% were boys.
In 23% of cases, physical searches were conducted without the presence of a third adult, although this is a requirement under the law, except in exceptional circumstances.
More than half of these investigations were carried out without any prosecution, which led the commissioner to consider that they were probably not “neither justified nor necessary in all cases”.
Rachel de Souza said she was “deeply shocked” by the “number of children who are subjected every year” to this “traumatic” experience and is “concerned” about the racial discrimination that has come to light.
Reacting, the London police said that they had already started “work”, promoted “changes”, so that “children who are subjected to these practices” are “treated in an appropriate way and with respect”.
The issue arose in the United Kingdom after the body search suffered in 2020 by a black teenager in her school’s infirmary.
Two policewomen searched her without the presence of a third adult person and while the young woman was on her period. The teenager, who allegedly had cannabis hidden on her, said she was deeply traumatized by this treatment. The case sparked protests.
A report by child protective services concluded in March that the body search should “never” have been done and that “racism,” intentional or not, “appears to have been a factor in the decision” to do it.
London’s police force has recently been rocked by a series of scandals, which have caused a crisis of confidence, leading to the resignation of its chief Cressida Dick, who has been replaced by former counter-terrorism chief Mark Rowley.
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