The strip search of a 15-year-old girl by police at her school in east London should be considered a case of serious misconduct, says the Mayor of London.
Teachers at her school in Hackney called the Metropolitan Police after wrongly suspecting she was carrying cannabis in 2020.
A safeguard report this month found that the search was not warranted and that racism was “likely” to be a factor.
Sadiq Khan has written to the head of the police watchdog urging him to consider a case of serious misconduct.
However, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said its investigation was complete and its report was being “finalized”.
In a statement, Khan said he was “disgusted and angry” about the “extremely traumatic” incident, which happened to the 15-year-old girl at her high school.
Scotland Yard has said the officers’ actions were “regrettable” and “should never have happened”.
During the incident, the girl was taken from an exam to the school medical room and was searched naked by two Met police officers, while the teachers remained outside. There were no other adults present and her parents were not contacted.
Her private body parts were exposed and she was forced to remove her sanitary pad, according to the review. No drugs were found.
The victim’s mother told the safeguard review that after the strip search, her daughter “was asked to go back to the exam” and had been sitting without any teacher asking about her well-being.
Her family said the girl had gone from “top of the class” to “a shell of her former bubbly self”, and was now self-harming and in need of therapy.
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In his letter to IOPC Director General Michael Lockwood, Khan said it was his understanding that the watchdog had made an “initial assessment of the seriousness of the ‘misconduct’ of the officers involved in this case and this was agreed with the Service.” Metropolitan Police”.
He continued: “I am aware that your investigation has almost reached a conclusion, and it will now be considered by the decision maker.”
He urged Lockwood to “consider in detail” the safeguard review, particularly that racism played a role, adding: “allegations of discrimination would normally be considered at the level of serious misconduct” under legal guidelines.
Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP Diane Abbott told the BBC on Wednesday that “racism absolutely played a part”.
The protection review indicated that in 2020-2021, there were 25 under-18 registrations in the same district.
Ms Abbott previously said that “only two of those 25 under-18 searches were white, the numbers tell you it’s a race thing.”
Domestic abuse campaigners from the charity Sistah Space said the strip search was a “sexual assault” and “everyone involved” should face charges.
The IOPC said in a statement that “all lines of inquiry” had now been completed and its report was being finalized.
He added that three police officers had received notices in the past year informing them that they were under investigation for misconduct, “for their role in conducting the strip search or their involvement in supervision.”
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