Police Search Children Less Often
Introduction
A new report looks at police and children in England. Police do fewer strip searches now. But Black children still have problems with the police.
Main Body
Strip searches are when police make a person take off their clothes. These searches went down by 56 percent from 2020 to 2024. In 2020, there were 854 searches. In 2024, there were 377. This happened after a Black girl named Child Q had a bad search at school. But some police still make mistakes. Some searches happen in public. Some searches do not have an adult helper. Black children are eight times more likely to have a strip search than white children. Police also use force. They use hands or Tasers. Black children experience this force five times more than white children. Police say white children have mental health problems. They say Black children are just big or strong. In many cases, the police used force but did not arrest the child. The police say they want to be more careful now. The government wants better rules to protect children.
Conclusion
Police do fewer searches now. This is good. But Black children still face more problems. The government must protect the rights and feelings of all children.