Police Officers' Strip-Search of Child Q Ruled Gross Misconduct

Child Q, a 15-year-old black girl, was strip-searched by police at her east London school in 2020. Two Metropolitan Police officers were found to have committed gross misconduct for the 'humiliating' strip-search. The girl, known as Child Q, was wrongly suspected of possessing cannabis and was forced to expose her intimate parts while no appropriate adult was present. The officers are awaiting penalties following the disciplinary hearing in south-east London. New rules were set to come into effect that would result in the sacking of any police officer proven to have committed gross misconduct.

The search of Child Q was described as unjustified, inappropriate, disproportionate, humiliating, and degrading. The officers failed to follow police policy by not getting proper authorization before the search. The Independent Office for Police Conduct deemed the decision to strip-search Child Q as 'completely disproportionate'. The incident led to protests and calls for action from the government.

Teacher Tanya Obeng expressed the lack of trust many black people have in the police, citing a 'level of fear'. Prof Louise Owusu-Kwarteng highlighted the unfair labeling of black children in schools. The search of Child Q was acknowledged to have exposed organizational failings within the police force, leading to improvements in training and oversight.

According to the source: BBC.