37 per cent increase in strip searches of children since 2015 sparks call for WA Police policy review

A 37 per cent increase in the number of strip searches of children by WA Police in the past five years has sparked calls for a change of the organisation’s policies. There were 1450 children under the age of 18 strip-searched by police last year including six who identified as trans and 19 kids who were only 10 years old. The number of strip searches for all West Australians has grown over five years by 64 per cent to 35,484 and of these 40 per cent of all searches were Aboriginal people. Police have rejected the call for change saying “age, sex and race” is irrelevant to a decision to conduct a strip search and it had no intention to review or amend its policy. Greens parliamentary leader Alison Xamon has called for an inquiry after she unearthed the shocking statistics and said there was not enough transparency around the practice. She said there were no clear guidelines or parameters to ensure strip searching of children was being done appropriately and with a parent or guardian present. “We should be very concerned about what is happening and the regime around strip searches,” Ms Xamon said. “I think we can all imagine that these children are already pretty vulnerable. “I take a guess that a number of them have been subject to sexual abuse. “I wonder about the lifelong impact on those children of such practices. “I also want to point out that of the children strip searched in 2018–19, six of those children... identified as trans.” Ms Xamon said strip searching should not be eliminated but there were clear examples where they had been conducted in an intimidating way. A WA Police spokeswoman said it was not looking to change how it recorded information about instances of strip searches. “There is currently no intention to review or amend the policy relating to recording strip searching events,” she said. “The decision to conduct a strip search of a person in custody is dependent on the causal incident and considers their antecedence, criminal history and behaviour. “The decision to conduct a strip search on a person can also be about ensuring their own protection, as there may be many complexities involving those in custody.” Minister for Police Michelle Roberts defended police and said the force only conducted strip searches “when necessary”. “The CCC has the capacity to investigate if there are any concerns by individuals impacted,” she said. “As an alternative to strip searches, we have introduced a body scanner at the Perth Watch House to enable processing of many of the detainees and help reduce the risk of confrontation between officers and detainees.”