The Children’s Commissioner for England has published a new report on police strip searches of children in England and Wales. The Commissioner analysed strip searches conducted by police across five and a half years of data, from 2018 to 2023. Findings show: from January 2018 to June 2023, 3,368 strip searches of children were conducted by 44 police forces; 457 strip searches of children were conducted in England and Wales between July 2022 and June 2023; an appropriate adult could not be confirmed to be present in 45% of these searches; and Black children were disproportionately affected. The Commissioner is calling for national codes of practice for strip searching to be strengthened.
Read the report: Strip searching of children in England and Wales: first complete dataset for 2018–2023, including new data July 2022-June 2023
Source: Children’s Commissioner for England
Date published: 19 August 2024
