User:OpticalBloom241/sandbox

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Notable incidents[edit]

Australia[edit]

New South Wales[edit]

Main article: New South Wales Police Force strip search scandal

Following the introduction of a controversial law in 2001, New South Wales Police were given the power to deploy drug detection dogs at major public events such as music festivals, inside licenced premises (venues that serve alcohol) and at stations across the Sydney Trains network.[1][2]: 1 

Police and a drug detection dog at the entrance of the Defqon music festival in Sydney in 2017

A report published by the New South Wales Ombudsman in 2006 found that 74% of searches resulting from drug detection dog indications carried out over a two-year review period had failed to find any illicit drugs.[2]: 29  Subsequent figures obtained from NSW Police in 2023 revealed that between 1 January 2013 and 30 June 2023, officers had conducted 94,535 personal searches (refers to both strip searches and less invasive frisk or "general" searches) resulting from drug detection dog indications, with only 25% resulting in illicit drugs being found.[3]

In late 2014, reports were first published alleging that NSW Police were routinely using drug detection dog indications as a justification for conducting for conducting invasive strip searches, particularly at major events such as music festivals.[4][5] At these events, officers have employed the use of structures such as ticket booths[6][7]: 9 [8][9], tents[7]: 12 [10]: 9 [11], makeshift partitions[12][13][14]: 7  and police vans[15][16][17] to strip search attendees. In some cases, it’s been alleged that these structures did not offer adequate privacy to individuals being searched, leaving them exposed to other festivalgoers or officers outside.[18][19][20] After stripping partially or completely naked, festival patrons have reportedly been asked to do things such as lift their breasts or genitals[17][13][8], bend over[21][16][7]: 4 [22], spread their buttocks apart[23][24] or squat and cough[25][26][27][28]. Similar searches have reportedly been conducted during drug detection dog operations at train stations and licenced venues as well.[29][30][31]

Data obtained from NSW Police shows that between 1 July 2014 and 30 June 2020, officers had conducted 27,835 strip searches "in the field" (outside of a police station).[32]: 25 [33]: 12  Separate data shows that during the same six-year period, officers had conducted 5659 strip searches resulting from drug detection dog indications.[33]: 72 

In October 2018, the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission launched a formal investigation into the use of strip searches by NSW Police. In a final report handed down in December 2020, the Commission found that "a recurrent issue throughout the inquiry was the failure of officers to comply with, or at least to properly account for their compliance with, the legal thresholds for conducting a strip search".[33]: ii  In several cases investigated by the Commission, it was found that officers had acted unlawfully.[33]: 3  The commission also noted that there had been a "significant increase" in the "number and proportion" of strip searches carried out following drug detection dog indications in the five years between 2014 and 2019.[33]: 71 

In July 2022, a class action was filed in the Supreme Court of New South Wales on behalf of patrons strip searched at music festivals by NSW Police from July 2016 onwards. Head plaintiff for the class action is a then 27-year-old woman who was allegedly strip searched at the Splendour in the Grass music festival in 2018.[34] A trial for the class action is expected to be held in mid-2025.[35]

  1. ^ Paul Gregoire, Ugur Nedim. The NSW Laws Relating to Drug Detection Dogs. Sydney Criminal Lawyers, 17 September 2019
  2. ^ a b Review of the Police Powers (Drug Detection Dogs) Act 2001. New South Wales Ombudsman. June 2006. ISBN 1-921131-36-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  3. ^ Mcleod, Catie (9 November 2023). "NSW police sniffer dogs incorrectly detect drugs on patrons despite costing taxpayers $46m over past decade". The Guardian.
  4. ^ Gregoire, Paul (10 October 2014). "Strip Searches are Now Routine in New South Wales". Vice.
  5. ^ Corderoy, Amy (2 December 2014). "Police in doghouse over strip searches". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  6. ^ GIPA 2019-1086. New South Wales Police Force.
  7. ^ a b c Report on the monitoring of NSW Police Force misconduct matter investigation – Strike Force Blackford. Law Enforcement Conduct Commission. July 2020.
  8. ^ a b Ryan, Hannah (25 January 2019). ""Humiliating And Embarrassing": This Is What It's Like To Be Strip-Searched At A Music Festival". Buzzfeed.
  9. ^ Pengilley, Victoria (18 June 2019). "Strip search locations may be putting victims of sexual assault at risk". ABC [Audio File].
  10. ^ Operation Brugge. Law Enforcement Conduct Commission. May 2020
  11. ^ Noore, Natasha (8 May 2017). "Police and the people". Honi Soit.
  12. ^ Piotrowski, Daniel (2013-03-07). "Man 'forced to strip naked' at Mardi Gras event". news.com.au.
  13. ^ a b Lee, Alex (31 May 2015). "Should Police Sniffer Dogs Be Banned From Music Festivals?". BuzzFeed.
  14. ^ Statement of Claim – Raya Meredith v State of New South Wales. 21 July 2022.
  15. ^ Ziegler, Lauren (28 November 2015). "I Was Strip Searched Before Performing At A Festival". HowlandEchoes.
  16. ^ a b Crealy, Louise (7 June 2018). "Festival goers take NSW Police to court over sniffer dogs". ABC [Audio file].
  17. ^ a b The Project (Network 10). Strip searches in NSW have doubled. 20 December 2018 [Video file]
  18. ^ McGowan, Michael (27 May 2020). "Law firms look to launch landmark strip-search class action against NSW police". The Guardian.
  19. ^ "Tents didn't close for NSW strip-searches". AAP. 22 October 2019.
  20. ^ Singhal, Pallavi (9 March 2019). "Strip-searched and sent packing: Police to review woman's claims after Sydney music festival". Sydney Morning Herald.
  21. ^ "Strip searches, Facebook after Zuckerberg & tattoos after death". Triple J Hack (ABC) [Audio File]. 2 December 2015.
  22. ^ McGowan, Michael (22 July 2022). "Music festival patrons launch class action against NSW police alleging unlawful strip-searches". The Guardian.
  23. ^ Dias, Avani (16 November 2021). "'Bend over, open up': People strip searched at Splendour in the Grass could be entitled to thousands in compensation in class action". Triple J Hack (ABC).
  24. ^ Endrey, Chris (3 March 2019). "After the Secret Garden: The NSW Police State". Medium.
  25. ^ Packer, Clareese (3 October 2023). "Woman alleges NSW Police officers conducted an illegal strip search on her at Knockout festival". news.com.au.
  26. ^ Thompson, Angus (11 July 2019). "'Nice and slow': woman battles tears describing police strip-search to inquest". Sydney Morning Herald.
  27. ^ Pengilley, Victoria (22 August 2019). "NSW Police's use of strip searches skyrocketing, report finds". ABC.
  28. ^ "Young people are suing NSW police". Triple J Hack (ABC) [Audio File]. 16 November 2021.
  29. ^ "Sydney police 'asked woman to remove tampon' in strip-search". BBC. 22 July 2020.
  30. ^ Gregoire, Paul (6 November 2015). "A Facebook Site Is Helping Australians Dodge Drug-Sniffing Dogs". Vice.
  31. ^ The Project (Network 10). False Positives. 2 December 2014 [Video File]
  32. ^ Sentas, Vicki; Grewcock, Michael (August 2019). Rethinking Strip Searches by NSW Police (PDF). UNSW. ISBN 978-0-7334-3877-6.
  33. ^ a b c d e Inquiry into NSW Police Force strip search practices. Law Enforcement Conduct Commission. December 2020
  34. ^ McGowan, Michael (22 July 2022). "Music festival patrons launch class action against NSW police alleging unlawful strip-searches". The Guardian.
  35. ^ Schmidt, Nathan (21 December 2023). "Strip-search lawsuit to go ahead after court bid dismissed". news.com.au.
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