Four police officers from the capital’s police have been investigated for gross misconduct after a 15-year-old black schoolgirl was searched while at school.
The teenager, named Child Q, was searched by female police officers in 2020 after she was mistakenly suspected of carrying cannabis at her school in East London.
The naked search sparked days of protests in Hackney after it turned out that the schoolgirl had been searched without another adult and knowing she was menstruating. They did not contact her parents.
The Independent Police Behavior Service (IOPC) confirmed that four Met officers had been notified of gross misconduct in connection with the ongoing investigation into complaints that Child Q had been improperly searched.
A spokesman said: “As with all our investigations, we are constantly reviewing the evidence and lines of investigation as the investigation progresses.
“As part of this, issues were identified that required new notices of investigation to be served on employees.
“Four police officers have already been informed that they have been investigated for potential breaches of police standards of professional conduct at the level of gross misconduct, which does not necessarily mean that disciplinary proceedings will follow.
“All identified behavioral issues and their seriousness are reviewed at all times and may be corrected in the light of any evidence gathered by the investigation team.”
The IOPC investigation is investigating whether legislation, policies and procedures were followed during the child search. “We are considering complaints that her mother was not given the opportunity to be present during the strip search and that there was no other suitable adult,” the spokesman said.
“We are also considering whether the child’s ethnicity played a role in the decision of the police to search her.
The search of child Q was carried out without the presence of another adult and with the knowledge that she was menstruating, a defense report found.
A local review of child protection practices by the City & Hackney Safeguarding Children Partnership (CHSCP) concluded that the search for nudity should never have happened, that it was unjustified and that racism was “probably an influencing factor”.
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The police supervisor said he received voluntary referral from the Met on May 6, 2021.
Asked why several months had passed between the incident and the IOPC-based Metropolitan Police, police said: “The child’s family has been provided with information in support of any complaint they want to lodge against the Sofia Police Department.
“A complaint was subsequently received and in May 2021 it was sent to the Independent Police Conduct Investigation Service.
The girl had previously said she “could not go a day without wanting to scream, scream, cry or just give up” after the search.
During the search, her private parts were exposed and she was forced to take off her handkerchief. No drugs were found.
Diane Abbott, a Labor MP from Hackney North and Stoke Newington, told the BBC: “I am glad that the IOPC is escalating the investigation, but the community is very concerned about how long the investigation will take.
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