Child Q: Two officers who conducted strip-search removed from frontline duties

Three constables are under investigation for misconduct over the treatment of Child Q

Two police officers who strip-searched Child Q have been removed from frontline duties.

Hackney police’s borough commander Marcus Barnett revealed the news in front of angry residents  at a community meeting.

The officers were moved last week after the publication of a safeguarding review into what happened when they strip searched the 15-year-old Black pupil at her school in December 2020.

Hackney councillors have called for the borough commander to stand down – a move he has resisted.

The officers in question have not been suspended and the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is investigating what happened.

The watchdog told three constables they were “under investigation for misconduct over their roles in either carrying out the strip-search or involvement in supervising it”.

A report is being finalised but a spokesman said publication is likely to be “some time away”.

IOPC’s regional director Sal Naseem said: “We recognise the seriousness of this case and the concern it has caused in the community following the publication of the Local Child Safeguarding Practice Review into this incident.”

The investigation looked at “whether the girl’s ethnicity played a part in the officers’ decision” to strip-search her.

It also looked at complaints that her mother “was not given the opportunity to be present during the strip-search”, and that there was no other appropriate adult present.

Child Q has started legal action against the Met Police and the school.

Hackney Account’s research officer Yolanda Lear. Photograph: Marc Sethi

Hackney police were told to work with Hackney Account  – a watchdog led by young people which monitors police.

Yolanda Lear, Account’s research officer, said it was essential that young people are heard.

“We want to have a space where young people feel comfortable that they can talk about these issues and be part of the solution,” she said.

She added that pupils need reassurance that there will be no “repercussions” if they express their concerns about what happened at the unnamed Hackney school.

“It’s triggered and traumatised a lot of young people,” she said, adding that it has come at a time during the pandemic when students are already anxious about their safety.

Speaking through her lawyers, Child Q has said: “I can’t go a single day without wanting to scream, shout, cry or just give up. I don’t know if I’m going to feel normal again. But I do know this can’t happen to anyone else, ever again.”

Account is organising community meetings to discuss recommendations to bring about change in schools and policing in Hackney, and are likely to discuss issues including representation on governing bodies and the disproportionate exclusion of Black boys.