Scotland Yard Pays £37,000 Damages To Woman Strip Searched By Chelsea Cops, Naked Image From Cell Was Broadcast Via CCTV

The notoriety of American cops, which has resulted in spreading anti-police sentiment across the US, appears to have reached the UK. Because of abuse committed by Scotland Yard after male officers from the agency strip searched a woman and broadcast her naked image from her cell via CCTV, the agency was ordered to pay the victim £37,000 in damages.

The 22-year-old black woman, a PR practitioner, was suddenly felt ill while she was having lunch at Supper Club in Notting Hill in March 2011. She believes her drink from the bar was spiked that caused her to collapse in the toilet. The woman became distressed and confused that caused her to run around the street, reports The Telegraph.

Five officers, four of whom were men, stripped her naked while a closed circuit television camera was open at her cell at the Chelsea police station. Her images could be seen at the station’s custody desk. She was in such a state for 30 minutes.

In her complaint, the victim said the strip search breached police regulations that only those of the same gender could carry out the search and it should not be held in a CCTV cell. Further, only half of a detainee’s clothing should be remove and the person should be allowed to put on clothes immediately after the search.

No record of the strip search exists, said the victim who believes she was raped. When she complained about what happened and was not happy with the Met’s reply, the woman, now 26, elevated her complaint to the Independent Police Complaints Commission, or IPCC. The body recommended filing of misconduct charges against the five cops who strip searched her and have the custody sergeant face a gross misconduct hearing.

While the Met agreed to settle with the victim after the IPCC declared the officers have violated the Police and Criminal Evidence Act, the agency had not apologised to her. In its statement, the Met simply acknowledged settling a civil claim on April 28 that was the result of an arrest on the woman for public order offence. It said “the matter was discontinue due to insufficient evidence.”

What happened, however, is not surprising since the Met police had strip searched over 4,600 children in the age bracket 10 to 16 during the five-year period from April 2008 through December 2013, BBC reported in 2014. But the Met then said that its use of the strip search was “proportionate and appropriate.”

Outside kids, the Met has also strip searched approximately 134,000 people from 2009 through 2013, of which 10.5 percent were females and 3.5 percent were children, according to The Guardian which based the numbers on data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. In defense of the strip search, a Met spokesman said, “Strip-searching is a vital power in police custody, not only to identify and seize evidence, but also to ensure the safety and security of all detainees and staff.”

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