Report shows nothing found during strip searches of 8 children at Strand Road

Six children were strip searched in the Derry police station in 2022 whilst there have been two this year so far.

All of the children were Catholics bar one who said they were not religious, none had an appropriate adult present when the searches occurred, and none of them were found to have any items on their person, according to a fresh human rights review of strip searching of children and young people in police custody.

Six boys and two girls were subjected to strip searches in Derry, the new report states. Their ages ranged from 15 to 17.

The Police Board agreed to conduct this Human Rights Review following concerns raised about the use of strip search on children and young people in police custody.

The human rights review made a series of ten recommendations including that the PSNI should commit to additional training for custody officers and custody staff with a particular focus on strip searching of children and vulnerable persons.

Policing Board Chair Deirdre Toner said: “While a rare occurrence, strip searching is one of the most intrusive interactions that occur between police and a child or young person.

"The Board agreed it necessary to conduct this review following a number of concerns raised regarding its use by the PSNI.

“Custody officers and staff have an incredibly important responsibility to protect those arrested and detained, which becomes crucial when interacting with children and young people, who are particularly vulnerable.

“This report scrutinises current guidance and governance frameworks and makes recommendations for the Police Service and for Police and Criminal Evidence (PACE) legislation to ensure young people in custody are protected, and custody officers and staff have the correct guidance.

“A recommendation is also made around the use of the NI Appropriate Adult Scheme by the police service as a key concern identified in the review was that young people were being searched in police custody without such an Adult being present.

“Going forward the Board will keep the issue under review to make sure the recommendations and learning identified are fully implemented.”

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“The Board would like to thank all those who engaged with the Board’s Human Rights Advisor in progressing this review including the Northern Ireland Appropriate Adult Scheme provider Mindwise, organisations in the youth sector and other police services in the UK.”

SDLP Policing Board Member Mark H Durkan said he is deeply concerned by the findings of the review.

“It is of the deepest concern that the PSNI appeared to ignore the rules, that appropriate adults were not present during searches and that there are questions of lawfulness in relation to police conduct.

"I acknowledge that a balance must be struck in terms of cases whereby a young person was at risk of self-harm, but further information is needed on what prior risk assessments were carried out and why officers felt that circumstances were so urgent that they could not wait for an appropriate adult. Again, it must be stressed that these searches should only be conducted as an absolute last resort,” he said.

Sinn Féin Councillor Emma McGinley also described the findings of the Policing Board's investigation as ‘concerning’.

She said: "We welcome the publication of the Policing Board’s human rights review into the abuse of strip search powers on children and young people in police custody.

"There are a number of concerning statistics in the report, such as most searches finding nothing illegal. And the overwhelming majority of searches took place without an appropriate adult present.

"Strip searching is one of the most intrusive interactions that occur between police and a child or young person.

"It is hard to figure out what would create the kind of urgency that you can't wait for an appropriate adult.

"We have consistently raised our concerns around these strip-searches. And we will keep this issue under review to make sure the recommendations and learning identified are fully implemented.”

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In their conclusion to the report the human rights reviewer states: “It appears that strip searching of juveniles followed a long standing custom and practice approach by PSNI, rather than that of the guidance provided by the PACE Codes.

"No one in PSNI appears to have thought this was unusual and no senior officer seems to have challenged this before questions were asked by agencies and NGOs, the media, or by Policing Board Members.”

The report argues that given the ‘very intrusive nature of a strip search’ any interference with privacy must be ‘properly prescribed by detailed rules’.

"The starting point for a decision to dispense with the requirement of an Appropriate Adult being present will be the nature of the article that the custody officer suspects will be found during the search,” the reviewer adds.

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PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Alan Todd said: “As the report sets out, strip searching is not a power we use routinely and the decision to conduct a strip search of a young person is never taken lightly.

“There are however occasions when our staff believe an individual has concealed an item that could potentially cause themselves serious harm.

“We take our statutory obligation to ensure the safety of those in police custody extremely seriously – even more so when it is a young person.

“In January this year we made changes to the guidance for our custody staff and, while there has been improvement in the process, we recognise there is still work to do.

"We will continue to work closely with the Policing Board to further improve our performance in this crucial area and will review our internal guidance in line with the recommendations made in this report.

“We will continue to closely monitor this situation with the safety of children and young persons in our care at the forefront of all our decisions.”

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