Children’s Commissioner reveals 650 children have been strip-searched by the Metropolitan Police

The Children’s Commissioner has revealed that the Metropolitan Police’s strip searching of Child Q was not an isolated incident, as data she obtained showed that 650 children aged 10-17 were strip-searched by Met officers between 2018 and 2020.

Dame Rachel de Souza sought out the figures after Child Q, a 15-year-old schoolgirl who was on her period, was strip-searched by police in 2020 after being wrongly suspected of carrying cannabis at school.

“I [called] for this data from the Metropolitan Police to make sure this was an isolated incident... I’m really shocked,” Dame Rachel said.

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