Chicken bald back

[Cinnamon]

Just wondered if anyone knew if they can stop & search a 14 year old?

 

My youngest & some of her friends have just been stopped & searched by a couple of police,one non uniform. It was the proper hands on the wall & spead 'em type.

 

Apparantly they were looking for drugs, & of course they didn't find any

 

She phoned me,terrified that I would go mad at her & obviously pretty shaken up. She says she has been given a piece of paper detailing the search to give to me.

 

While I am glad that they are on the ball with teens & drugs,I am a little shocked myself,but also think its taught her a life lesson!

[clootie]

Hmmm, it would be good to see them doing the same to adults.

[Chucky Mama]

Gosh I am suprised, I have no idea whether they are allowed to or not. Did a female officer search her?

[Cinnamon]

She didn't say, but I suspect so.

 

Cleo goes to Henley college one day a week, so this is why she was in Henley,not in school uniform, & she can easily pass for 16,being tall & skinny.

I guess they must have thought she was college age

[Cinnamon]

Bit more info has just come my way.It seems her & her girlfriends were standing about 5m away from a couple of college lads who had a suspect looking ciggy on them

[The Dogmother]

Aaahhh, that might explain it.

 

Poor girl, but as you say, it might have taught her a life lesson.

[Lewis]

How strange!

This morning on the way to school loads of people were stopped and searched at the train station, first time its happened in 7 years I'm aware of.

They had metal detectors and drug dogs, and apparently anyone 'suspect' had to stand behind this barrier all together, not sure what happened after.

 

Hope she's ok!

[Valkyrie]

Okaaaaay - if you see me in Henley standing near a group of young lads with cigarettes I'll be waiting for a policeman to come and frisk me. Goodness the things I have to do for a bit of fun nowadays.

 

On a more serious note - I think it's a bit harsh to do that to the girls - why didn't they do it to the lads that had the suspicious looking ciggy?

[Willow]

Hi Sarah

There's some useful info here http://www.yourrights.org.uk/yourrights/the-rights-of-suspects/stop-and-search/conducting-the-search.html

 

Obviously stop and search is open to abuse by people pretending to be police so it would be worth her knowing to ask for a warrant card and knowing what they can and can't do.

 

TBH if the only grounds was the girls were standing a few metres from some boys smoking a dodgy cigarette it doesn't sound like the police were within their rights to stop and search the girls.

[Geoid]

Found this: http://www.met.police.uk/stopandsearch/what_is.htm

 

They can search anyone if they think they are carrying an offensive weapon, drugs, have committed a crime, or might commit a terrorist act.

[chick wiggle]

Oh poor girl, I would have been shaken by this so must be worse for a girl so young! My daughter is 14 and I would be horrified if this had happened to her. Why did'nt they search the boys with the ciggy? Is she sure they were police? I would be inclined to make enquiries at your local police station (but I would keep it quiet from her, so as not to upset her more) They surely must keep a record of stop and searches? If it was some awful people messing around, impersonating etc, the police should be informed.

Maybe my over active imagination or suspicious nature but I would want to know more.

Hope your daughters ok now.

[chickenNutter]

Apparently if you are stopped and searched on foot, you are not obliged to give your name and address. You only have to do that legally if you are stopped in a car.

 

Not sure if that is relevant, but I just thought I would add it anyway!

[Chucky Mama]

Obviously stop and search is open to abuse by people pretending to be police so it would be worth her knowing to ask for a warrant card

 

This was my concern too.

[jlo]

Apparently if you are stopped and searched on foot, you are not obliged to give your name and address. You only have to do that legally if you are stopped in a car.

 

Not sure if that is relevant, but I just thought I would add it anyway!

 

I am not sure where this advice has come from but be careful. If the police are in a position where they could summons you for an offence (and I accept that this is perhaps more likely to happen with motoring offences but could be for other matters as well) and they cannot ascertain your name and address, they can arrest you under Police and Criminal Evidence Act.

 

Hopefully not a common occurrence amongst Omleteers!

 

They should have shown her their warrant card and given their ID. If that didn't happen then I would suggest a visit to the cop shop!

 

Hope she's ok now!

[patsylabrador]

I feel uncomfortable about this. I don't think uniform and non- uniform officers usually patrol together and if frisking females was considered a woman officer would be called. I would want to check this, it wouldn't be the first time losers have impersonated police.

[BeckyBoo]

Firstly, they were almost certainly within their rights to search your daughter - we have no way of knowing where the information about the lad with the cigarette came from. If it was an anonymous caller or even someone calling with good intent they could just have easily have described "a group of youths, males and females aged 14-16 standing around, one of them believed to be smoking drugs" - this is very often the information we get. If clothing was described and it happened to match your daughter obviously she would have been included in the search. She's got her stop search form which will give details of the officer who searched her, the reasons for the search and time date etc so you can find out who it was if you want to. Female officers should have searched her. Also, they may well have searched the lad too, just because it didn't happen in front of her doesn't mean it didn't happen, if she was upset by being searched herself then she may not have hung around to see.

It's not nice being searched, but sadly drugs are rife and not just in 16 year olds, very often it's 14 and 15 year olds as well. It's a tricky job because the information we're given is often vague but if we don't act on it we're wrong then too!!

 

BeckyBoo

[Cinnamon]

It was legit - she has given me a Thames valley Police form with all the details they took from her,a reference number & the search grounds which are 'report of drug transaction occurring behind college'

 

The boys were questioned & taken to the Police station, & will probably be charged.

 

It turns out the Cleo knows one of them,but wasn't with them,but standing away from them with 5 or 6 other girls,and one of the boys,who she doesn't know,implicated them.

What you said Becky about the info given would be correct in this situation - it seems she was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

 

She was shaken up,had a bit of a cry when she got back to her college lesson (a half hour late,not having had any lunch), but the teachers really looked after them & asked them all to make a written statement for the school records.

 

The school has notoriously bad admin,so we shall see what comes of it all.................not much,I suspect!

 

I think it was more that fact that this could happen,that she could be innocent & yet suspected of doing something illegal which upset her,more than the search itself.

She says that at the time she had no idea that drugs were involved,& she didn't know until she saw the Police report, so was understandably confused. She says it was like she was guilty until proven innocent

 

But we have had a chat & I have explained how great it is that the Police are on top of the drugs problem in Henley,& that what happened to her today should make her feel safe,not worried.

[chick wiggle]

Aw, bless her, Im glad its all legit though.

Its all a bit of a trauma I should imagine, I really hope shes getting over it quickly.

[Couperwife]

oh my word, im glad your daughter is ok

 

(((hugs))) to her (and you for being a super mum )

 

cathy

x

[Happy chickens!]

Sounds really horrid - I would have been very upset too. In principal I agree with stop and search etc, as do want police to keep on top of crime, but scary when it happens to you. Hope she's ok now - she'll be telling all her friends about it for years!

[Valkyrie]

I think you handled the situation well - especially pointing out that it is to make it safer for her in the long run.

[Alis girls]

I wouldv'e thought you would need parental permission to search an under 16. i bet she was upset. its a lesson - having a 14 yr old is hard - mines having a moody - women probs me thinks - hes gone off his latest girl of the moment. He was told off by me for throwing snowballs at a white van today. only needs a psycho van driver to get out and beat him up - hes 14 and 6ft1 and looks 17. I have tried the mum to son chat got nowhere

[BeckyBoo]

I wouldv'e thought you would need parental permission to search an under 16.

 

Thankfully not! Can you imagine getting permission from some of the parents we deal with to search their little darlings? Half the time the parents are twice as bad - which is why the kids are so awful in the first place

 

BeckyBoo

[Alis girls]

No you are right Becky - its just you seem to need permsision for just about anything else dont you these days. It is a learning curve and if son was suspected of anything I would be happy to know cops are doing their jobs. My son is of an age where he thinks hes streetwise (hes not) and infalable. He thinks hes Mr Tough but isnt.

[chick wiggle]

You are absolutely right Beckyboo. As (hopefully ) we are all law abiding, upstanding and responsible parents its sometimes too easy to forget what 'scum' you have to deal with, and I can imagine how it would be if you did have to get parental permission for every dealing with an underage lout, and yes, often the parents are worse!

Thank goodness we dont have to deal with these people every day.

Huge respect to those who do!