Reducing police powers to strip-search under-18s “only serves to increase the attractiveness of children for criminal exploitation,” a former government special adviser has said.
Rory Geoghegan said the police powers are needed because children are “often” forced or coerced into “concealing dangerous drugs on and around their bodies by vile individuals” seeking to profit from crime.
The former 10 Downing Street crime and justice adviser was responding to revelations in a report released on Monday by Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza.
The research, showing data for forces across England and Wales, revealed that a total of 2,847 strip searches took place between 2018 and mid-2022 of children aged between 8 and 17….