Police Officers often misuse their powers against children, treating teenagers as adults and subjecting them to excessive force. This post highlights the case of a 14-year-old who was violently detained and handcuffed during a stop and search despite being compliant. The article outlines the legal safeguards under GOWISELY and stresses that force must be proportionate and necessary – standards breached here.
Content Authenticity Statement
100% of this week’s blog post was generated by me, the human.
GO UNWISELY: Police Violence Against Teenagers
One of the most common characterisations of Police misbehaviour is that the Officers involved are like “playground bullies” – relishing power and domination over others, often with verbal and physical intimidation combined.
Such a summation of Police abuse of power is never more accurate than when such “bullies in uniform” are picking on actual children.
How Police Treat Teenagers: A Failure of Safeguarding Duties
Whilst the law recognises people under the age of 18 as children, Policing often treats teens as if they are a special category of adulthood, fair game for significant levels of violence and aggression and in dereliction of their safeguarding duties towards minors.
Police Abuse of Power Against Children: Real Case Examples
I have written before on this blog about many such cases of Police abuse of power against teenagers, abuses which are all the more harmful and exploitative by virtue of the very fact these people are children, much less well versed in the law and in their rights than adults, and particularly vulnerable to long- term harm to their mental health and social adaptation.
Read here, the stories of some of the many children whom I have been called upon to help, not just when they have been let down by the Police, but actively harmed and unlawfully criminalised by them –
- A 12 year old autistic boy, who was called a “fucker”, threatened with a taser and then violently shaken and thrown by an officer after being suspected of committing a minor traffic offence on his bicycle
- A 13 year old boy, handcuffed and roughed up during a “stop and search”
- A 17 year old boy, unlawfully strip- searched.
Unlawful Stop and Search: A Case Study Involving a 14-Year-Old
The latest such case which I have settled involves, once again, Police misuse of “stop and search” powers – and the law of the school playground rather than the land.
My client, Reuben, aged only 14 at the time of this incident was with a group of school friends in a local park in Oxfordshire, who were doing nothing more sinister than walking and talking through the park, during daylight hours (it was “teatime”, and several of them were still in their school uniforms) when they were focused upon by a group of police officers responding to reports of theft from a local shop.
As they were in fact innocent, Reuben and his friends did not panic or attempt to flee as the officers approached them, but one constable, PC Dancer, nevertheless ran up to Reuben from behind, and without any warning or provocation, kicked Reuben’s legs out from underneath him, causing the boy to fall to the ground.
Excessive Use of Force by Police Against Children
PC Dancer then angrily shouted to Reuben to “Get up!” (despite having put him down in the first place) and handcuffed the boy’s hands behind his back, swearing at him aggressively as he did so.
All of this was caught on PC Dancer’s own body worn camera.
Stop and Search Law Explained: Section 1 PACE and GOWISELY
Fortunately, at least, this shocking incident did not last very long. Reuben was entirely compliant with the police officer’s search of his person, which he would have been even had he not been ambushed violently from behind, and when that search was found to be ‘negative’, he was released.
Police powers of Stop and Search (which in this case were being exercised under Section 1 of the Police & Criminal Evidence Act 1984, the power to search for stolen items) are strictly governed by the rules which are collectively known by the acronym “GOWISELY.”
What is GOWISELY? Legal Requirements for Lawful Stop and Search
GOWISELY requires officers to give crucial information to the person who is being searched, without which the search is automatically unlawful (even if otherwise based on reasonable suspicion) –
- The grounds for the search
- The object of the search
- The officer’s warrant card (if he is not in uniform)
- The officer’s name & collar number
- The station at which the officer is based
- A written record of the search
- The legislation under which you are being searched (e.g Section 1 of PACE or Section 23 of the Misuse of Drugs Act).
When Police Breach Code of Practice: Verbal Abuse and Intimidation
What GOWISELY does not require is for an officer to shout in the startled face of a young teenager – “Don’t fuck around, don’t do it!”
Perhaps PC Dancer was reading the wrong part of the Code of Practice.
Police Use of Force: Legal Standards of Proportionality and Necessity
Police powers to use force are always governed by the watchwords “proportionate, lawful, appropriate and necessary”. The minimum force possible should be used, and sometimes, indeed, that is nil – especially when children are the targets of Police attention.
Psychological Harm and Rights Violations in Child Stop and Search Cases
Thankfully, Reuben did not suffer any significant injuries from this incident, but the violation of the rights of a child for even a short period of time, and including the distressing and degrading stigma of being handcuffed, is no minor matter.
Police Accountability and Professional Standards: A Failure to Act
PC Dancer was deemed by Thames Valley Police Professional Standards Department not to have committed any misconduct in this incident, but to require a “reflective practice review” of his performance.
Winning Compensation for Police Misconduct Against a Child
I am pleased to say that when I commenced a legal action on behalf of Reuben against the Police I was able to win far more from them than that – an order to pay Reuben substantial damages and his legal costs.
Perhaps the Policing profession as a whole needs to “reflect” upon its treatment of children, and the bullying tendencies of its officers towards teens.
My client’s name has been changed.
How you can help
Making specialist legal knowledge accessible is a core part of why I write this blog. If you believe that clear, independent information about police powers and civil liberties is important, I would greatly appreciate you taking a moment to leave a 5-star review. Each review helps ensure that those searching for answers can find this site — and the help they deserve. Thank you for your support.
Contact the Expert Police Misconduct Solicitor
Iain Gould is a solicitor specialising in complaints, claims and civil actions against the Police. With over 30 years of experience and a national reputation, he has successfully sued all 43 police forces in England and Wales challenging abuse of power and securing rightful compensation
You must be logged in to post a comment.