Two Met Police officers committed gross misconduct in Child Q search, panel says
Two Metropolitan Police officers committed gross misconduct during the 'disproportionate' and 'humiliating' strip search of a 15 year-old black girl at school, who was wrongly suspected of carrying cannabis, a disciplinary hearing has found.
The girl, known as Child Q, was strip searched while she was on her period, by officers in Hackney, east London, on December 3 2020, after her school wrongly suspected her of carrying cannabis.
The 'traumatic' police search involved the removal of Child Q's clothing, including her underwear, her bending over and having to expose intimate parts of her body.
Authorisation was not sought for the intimate search which left Child Q feeling 'demeaned' and 'physically violated,' the panel heard.
An appropriate adult was not present, a key safeguard of a child's rights, and the girl's mother was not told of the situation.
The actions of Pc Kristina Linge and Pc Rafal Szmydynski amounted to gross misconduct, while the behaviour of Pc Victoria Wray amounted to misconduct, the police disciplinary hearing, sitting in south-east London, ruled on Thursday.
Panel chairman Commander Jason Prins described the incident as 'a disastrous and negative interaction' between police and a black teenager, but said race had not been the reason why Child Q was treated so badly.
The search was 'disproportionate, inappropriate and unnecessary', and it was 'humiliating' for the child and made her feel 'degraded'.
The officers are now waiting to hear if they will be sacked, or what other penalty they may face, in light of the findings.
Commander Prins said 'this is a case where officers adopted a simplistic approach' to a sensitive matter and they did not follow the training they were given.
Authorisation was not sought and the situation 'cried out for advice and input,' he added.
Child Q did not give evidence at the four-week hearing 'because of the psychological effects that this strip search has had on her', the panel heard.
Outrage over Child Q's treatment led to protests outside Stoke Newington police station in north London, after a safeguarding review found she had arrived at school for a mock exam and was taken to the medical room to be strip searched while teachers remained outside.
After the misconduct panel finding Amanda Rowe, director of the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), which brought the case, said: 'Their decision to strip search a 15-year-old at school on suspicion of a small amount of cannabis was completely disproportionate.
'They failed to follow the policies that exist to ensure that children in these situations have appropriate protective measures in place.'
Teachers had already searched her blazer, shoes and school bag, and no drugs were found.
The school's safeguarding deputy had called police, amid fears Child Q could have been carrying drugs for someone, being exploited or groomed in the community, which meant it was a safeguarding issue for her and other school pupils.
Pc Szmydynski called for a second female officer to attend, in line with a more intimate search taking place, the panel heard.
Pc Linge told Child Q she would be arrested if she did not consent to being searched.
Child Q told the two officers who searched her she was menstruating, but the search continued, during which her sanitary pad was exposed.
When no drugs were found after the strip search, Child Q's hair was also scoured.
The girl did not give evidence at the tribunal, 'because of the psychological effects that this strip search has had on her', the panel previously heard.
Within days of the strip search, Child Q had gone to her doctor with symptoms of anxiety.
Elliot Gold, for the IOPC, went through a series of doctors' notes, including one which suggested Child Q had the 'appearance of symptoms of anxiety consistent with PTSD'.
The three officers gave evidence and each said they were not influenced by subconscious bias.
With no adult present, the teenager was alone and had no help during her conversations with police, or when the decision was made to perform a strip search.
No consideration was given as to whether the search could have been moved to Child Q's home, a police station or if it needed to happen at all, according to Commander Prins.
It was suggested the police felt the safeguarding deputy, who had accepted in her evidence to feeling 'Child Q was stoned', was acting as the appropriate adult.
But Commander Prins added: 'Child Q's mother was a strong choice to be an appropriate adult and equally, a member of staff who had not been involved in the incident.'
The hearing was also told that Metropolitan Police officers get no further updates on stop and search after initial training, and the training on conducting searches in schools was described as 'insufficient'.
In closing speeches Luke Ponte, for Linge, there is 'impossible complexity and lacking of understanding of police powers'.
After the ruling Metropolitan Police Commander Kevin Southworth said: 'The experience of Child Q should never have happened and was truly regrettable.
'We have sincerely apologised to Child Q since this incident happened. Again, I am deeply sorry to Child Q and her family for the trauma that we caused her, and the damage this incident caused to the trust and confidence black communities across London have in our officers.'
He added: 'While the officers involved did not act correctly, we acknowledge there were organisational failings.
'Training to our officers around strip-search and the type of search carried out on Child Q was inadequate, and our oversight of the power was also severely lacking.
'This left officers, often young in service or junior in rank, making difficult decisions in complex situations with little information, support, or clear resources to help their decision-making.'
Pc Szmydynski was 39 and had more than 13 years policing experience at the time of the search, after becoming a police community support officer in 2007 and a constable in November 2014.
Pc Linge was 41 and had joined the force in August 2018.
Pc Wray was a 24-year-old probationary officer who arrived at the scene after key decisions had been made, the panel found.
England's children's commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza described the case as 'one of the most shocking and profoundly disturbing incidents involving the treatment of a child by police in recent memory'.
She said the gross misconduct findings are 'a critical step in the pursuit of accountability but will not make up for the serious failures in safeguarding', adding 'Child Q's case has to be a line in the sand'.
There have been 'some signs of improvement' in how searches are carried out and recorded by police, 'too many strip searches today are unnecessary, unsafe and under-reported'.
Insisting she will keep pushing for reform, she added: 'The strip searching of children should never form part of routine policing. It must only be used as a last resort if there is an immediate risk of harm to the child or others with proper safeguards in place – children should never be put through such traumatic experiences without rigorous standards.'
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