Chief Executive responds to IOPC ruling
Two Metropolitan Police officers have been found to have committed gross misconduct, following an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC). This investigation follows a search involving the exposure of intimate parts of a 15-year-old Black girl, known as 'Child Q', at a school in Hackney, east London in 2020.
Speaking after the ruling, Lynn Perry, chief executive of Barnardo’s, said: “It’s deeply worrying that strip searching children is so common, so frequently done without proper safeguarding, and that Black children are four times more likely to be strip searched than children from other backgrounds.
“It’s essential that policing is done with respect and safety, and that children and young people can trust the criminal justice system.”