An independent oversight board that investigates complaints of police misconduct in England says several officers will face disciplinary action for administering a strip search on a 15-year-old Black girl at a northeast London school.
In a statement released on Thursday, The Independent Office for Police Conduct, or IOPC, said the search involved “the exposure of intimate body parts” of the girl, identified as Child Q. The incident happened at a school in Hackney in December 2020.
Four Metropolitan police officers responded to the school after a report that Child Q had marijuana in her possession. Her clothing and belongings were already searched by school staff, who couldn’t locate any drugs.
When police arrived, “the child was subject to a search involving the removal of clothing by two female officers under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, while two male officers and school staff remained outside the room where the search took place,” the IOPC said. They didn’t find anything. The Guardian reports Child Q was on her period at the time.
Three of the four officers were accused of discriminating against the child due to her race. It is also alleged that the officers’ decision to conduct the search was “inappropriate,” accused them of failing to get green light from a supervisor, and that there wasn’t an “appropriate adult” present during the incident, according to the IOPC.
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The fourth officer was recommended to attend a disciplinary meeting regarding the fact that an appropriate adult wasn’t there during the search. In addition, the IOPC suggested that the police department send a letter apologizing to Child Q and her family.
Per The Guardian, a report released earlier this year said that Black children are significantly more likely to be…
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