LAST WEEK two Metropolitan Police officers were found to have committed gross misconduct after Child Q was strip searched at her school in Hackney, east London, in December 2020.
The verdict followed an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).
The treatment of Child Q has been a watershed moment for policing to ask serious questions about how our service uses such intrusive powers on children, especially children of Black heritage.
It is a sad indictment of policing that Black parents continue to worry about how our service will treat their children. We need to deliver reform that earns the trust of Black communities.
The police do extraordinary things every day, including stopping and searching people in often difficult and sensitive circumstances.
But sometimes the use of police powers can have a devastating effect on communities. While we should use our powers to fight crime and keep people safe, we must consider their use very carefully.
Supervision, training and scrutiny around strip searches has improved significantly since the case of Child Q happened five years ago, but there is still much more to do.
Searches of children which expose intimate parts now require the approval of a senior officer.
Many forces subject authorised searches to further review and scrutiny, while work is underway to ensure these higher approval standards are written into the law.
Independent panels of community members are a crucial part of the scrutiny process for how police use their powers.
Stop and search scrutiny panels are now well established in forces up and down the country, reviewing key statistics around search powers, including how these powers are used on people of different ethnicities, as well as random samples of body worn videos.
These panels can make a real difference, so please search online to find out more details about local scrutiny panels in your force area.
A new national group is in place to develop minimum national standards across policing for the safeguarding of children who are subject to stop and search, to identify the best work that is happening in forces and ensure this is replicated across the country.
The NPCC children and young persons policing strategy commits policing to be “procedurally just, unbiased, inclusive and anti-racist”.
This mantra is continued through the Police Race Action Plan, which is helping to drive major research and improvements across police powers, from adultification and road traffic stops through to stop and search and the use of Tasers.
There has been a reduction in disproportionality in how police use these powers such as stop and search on Black communities every year since the plan was launched.
But it remains the case that these powers are still far more likely to be used against you if you are Black than if you are White.
We must demonstrate our commitment to anti-racism every day. Policing must continue to drive these improvements as part of an unrelenting focus to build the trust of every community in our service.
T/Deputy Assistant Commissioner Dr Alison Heydari is the programme director for the national Police Race Action Plan
