A black schoolgirl who was strip searched by Metropolitan Police officers was told she “might be arrested” if she refused to comply, a misconduct panel has heard.
The girl, known as Child Q, was strip searched by officers in Hackney, east London, on December 3 2020 after her school wrongly suspected her of carrying cannabis.
This involved the removal of the 15-year-old’s clothing including underwear, her bending over and having to expose intimate parts of her body while she was menstruating, the panel heard.
Trainee detective constable (TDC) Kristina Linge, Pc Victoria Wray and Pc Rafal Szmydynski, who were all Pcs at the time, all deny gross misconduct over their treatment of the girl.
On Thursday, TDC Linge, who conducted the strip search alongside Pc Wray, told the misconduct panel in London she informed Child Q she “might be arrested” when the girl asked what could happen if she refused to be searched, but that there had been “no threat of arrest”.
“Will you accept you were giving Child Q the option of being strip searched or arrested?” Elliot Gold, for the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), asked.
“There were no options given like that,” the officer replied.
“Do you accept that saying that to a 15-year-old might make them feel frightened?” Mr Gold continued.
“Yes,” TDC Linge responded.
“Do you accept that saying that to a 15-year-old might make them feel under duress?” he asked.
“Potentially,” she responded.
The panel heard that when asked previously what the officer had proposed to do if she found cannabis on Child Q, TDC Linge answered: “As per legislation, a juvenile found in possession must be arrested and brought to custody”.
TDC Linge previously said Child Q had “consented” to the search, but admitted under cross-examination on Thursday that this was not accurate.
The officer confirmed she had completed equality training, including on unconscious bias and discriminatory stereotypes, and said she was “aware” of stereotypes relating to black people.
She said she did not “see the relevance” of the fact Child Q was being questioned by two white police officers.
Mr Gold asked: “Would you accept that a stereotype of black people is they may more likely to be stopped and searched?”
“No,” TDC Linge replied.
“Would you accept that a stereotype of black people is they are more likely to be in receipt of use of force by police?” he continued.
“No,” she responded.
The 46-year-old denied she “did not recognise Child Q as a child” and was, in effect, “treating her as older than she was”.
The former Pc previously admitted a series of failings in her actions during the incident, including not making a record of the search or considering proportionality, and recognised the search should not have happened, accepting it had caused the child “harm and distress”.
When asked whether she would have done anything differently had the circumstances been “exactly the same” but Child Q had been white, TDC Linge replied: “No.”
TDC Linge said she suspected Child Q was carrying a “small amount” of cannabis, based on what she could smell and information from teachers.
Pc Szmydynski, who stood outside the room while the search took place, told the panel on Thursday that the school’s deputy safeguarding lead and headteacher had repeated the phrase that Child Q was a “danger to herself and others”.
The panel heard Pc Szmydynski requested attendance of another female to “assist us with searching if need be”, before speaking to Child Q to assess whether there were grounds for a search.
Child Q told him she smelled of cannabis as she had been with someone earlier that day who had smoked the drug which, along with information from teachers, formed grounds for the search, the officer said.
He denied that a “strip search” was discussed in front of him or between himself, the teachers and Pc Linge.
The officer, who joined the Met Police in 2014, described the child as “very cultured and very polite”, adding that she was not rude “at any point” during their interaction.
The panel heard the child informed the officers who searched her that she was menstruating, but the search continued during which her sanitary pad was exposed.
When no drugs were found, Child Q’s hair was also scoured.
According to the allegations, Pcs Linge and Szmydynski performed a search that exposed the girl’s intimate parts when this was “disproportionate in all the circumstances”.
Pcs Linge and Wray are also accused of performing or allowing the search in a manner which was “unjustified, inappropriate, disproportionate, humiliating and degrading”.
All of this happened without authorisation, in the absence of an appropriate adult, and with no adequate concern being given to Child Q’s age, sex, or the need to treat her as a child, and that the child’s race was an effective cause of this, it is also alleged.
Pcs Szmydynski and Linge are further accused of giving a “misleading record” of the search afterwards.
On Wednesday, TDC Linge told the hearing she did not accept accusations of breaches of respect of authority and respecting courtesy.
The girl will not be giving evidence at the tribunal “because of the psychological effects” the search has had on her, the panel has heard.
Outrage over Child Q’s treatment led to protests outside Stoke Newington Police Station.
Scotland Yard has previously apologised over the incident.
The hearing continues.
