Child Q: Met Police changes strip-search policy in two London boroughs

A strip-search of any child in two London boroughs will need approval from an inspector in the wake of the Child Q controversy, the Met Police says.

A 15-year-old girl is suing the school and the Met after a safeguarding report found the strip-search in Hackney, east London, was unjustified and racism was "likely" to have been a factor.

No appropriate adult was present when she was strip-searched in 2020.

The pilot scheme is being rolled out in Hackney and neighbouring Tower Hamlets.

Currently, a strip-search requires a conversation with a supervisor and the presence of an appropriate adult.

Last week, police admitted the two officers who carried out the search had been moved from public-facing roles to desk duties, 15 months after the incident.

The report said the girl was taken out of an exam to the school's medical room and strip-searched by officers who were looking for cannabis, while teachers remained outside.

No other adult was present, her parents were not contacted and no drugs were found.

She was subjected to what police call an MTIP search, or 'More Thorough search where Intimate Parts are exposed', and the review said she was made to take off her sanitary towel.

The Met has admitted the officers' actions were "regrettable" and it "should never have happened" and the police watchdog is looking into the incident.

In a letter to Scotland Yard, Mark Carroll, the chief executive of Hackney Council, welcomed a commitment to "adultification training" locally in the hope that it is rolled out across the wider force.

Adultification is where adults perceive black children as being older than they are.

Mr Carroll wrote: "The issues of racism, and trust and confidence in policing amongst our black and global majority residents go back, as you note, many many years.

"Action to date has had very little impact, and we all agree that trust and confidence remains too low, particularly in Hackney."

Boris Johnson has described reports of the strip-search were "deeply distressing and deeply concerning".

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