Report Says Black Youth Are 8 Times More Likely Than White Peers To Be Strip-Searched By UK Police

A new report has staggering findings about the treatment of Black youth by police in the United Kingdom. The report, released by the Children’s Commissioner, determined Black children as eight times more likely to face strip searches by police in comparison to their white counterparts. According to the BBC, the results have left state leadership to call for new policies addressing this racial disparity. Although the report also dictated that children’s strip searches have significantly decreased, down 56% in 2024 from the 854 documented in 2020, its findings concluded that Black children still remain a target for police investigation. The report, led by Dame Rachel de Souza, even confirmed that Black children were five times more likely to experience force by police during these stop and searches, subjecting them to more aggression in these encounters. Black children remain disproportionately targeted in strip searches. However, they only make up a small portion of the UK’s population of kids from 10 to 17 years old. The report detailed that over a third of strip searches occurred on Black children, with some instances using force on children even younger than age 11. “Although only 6% of the population of 10-17 year olds in the 2021 census were Black, 35% of the children strip searched were of Black ethnicity,” detailed the report. Dame Rachel confirmed that while strip searches have declined, the persisting amount has troubled the agency, which…