Met Police officers who strip searched black schoolgirl, 15, are SACKED

Two Metropolitan Police officers who carried out the "disproportionate” and “humiliating” strip search of a 15-year-old black girl at school, who was wrongly suspected of carrying cannabis, have been dismissed from their roles.

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, the police disciplinary panel heard.

Authorisation was not sought for the intimate search, which left Child Q feeling “demeaned” and “physically violated”. An appropriate adult was not present, a key safeguard of a child’s rights, and the girl’s motherwas not told of the situation.

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On Thursday the panel ruled the actions of Pc Kristina Linge and Pc Rafal Szmydynski amounted to gross misconduct and they were dismissed without notice. Pc Victoria Wray’s conduct amounted to misconduct and she was given a final written warning. She was a 24-year-old probationary officer at the time and arrived at the scene after the key decisions had been made.

Panel chairman Commander Jason Prins said: “There has been enormous harm to Child Q and significant harm to the community in trusting the police.” He added “this is a very high harm case” and given the “extremely serious findings” made by the panel “the only appropriate outcome is dismissal without notice”.

Earlier he had 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”.

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 Child Q’s 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 took a “leading role” in the actions that day, including calling for a second female officer to attend, in line with a more intimate search taking place. Pc Linge told Child Q she would be arrested if she did not consent to being searched. 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.

Child Q told Pcs Linge and Wray, who searched her, that 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.

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.

“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.

“What happened to Child Q was a catalyst for change both for the Met and for policing nationally. While we should not have needed an incident such as Child Q to check our approach, it has absolutely led us to improving our processes and significantly reducing the number of these types of searches carried out. It’s crucial we get this right to ensure the impact on young people is minimised as far as possible.

“Sadly, we know there are children in London being exploited to carry drugs and weapons for others as well as involved in criminality, so these types of searches have to remain within police powers. The work we have done since Child Q means we now have the right safeguards in place.”