A public hearing in Sydney on Tuesday heard evidence from a NSW police officer who conducted strip searches at last year’s Splendour in the Grass music festival in Byron Bay.
The officer admitted to the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (LECC) that of the 19 strip searches he conducted, just one item – a Valium tabled – was found.
The officer, whose identity has been protected, conceded that none of the searches appeared to meet the “threshold of urgency” required under NSW law and, in hindsight, were therefore probably illegal.
The commission is investigating allegations of police misconduct over the strip searching of a 16-year-old girl at the two-day festival in July last year.
Samantha Lee, head of police accountability at Redfern Legal Centre, said evidence heard in the inquiry this week showed that strip search laws in NSW were in need of urgent reform.
“Strip search law is the only law that I know of which allows an adult to direct a child to take off all their clothes in a foreign environment,” she told 7NEWS.com.au.
“The law is antiquated, it fails child protection principles and is causing harm.”
On Thursday, a 17-year-old girl claimed to be among more than 20 Extinction Rebellion activists who were strip-searched in the Brisbane City police watch after being detained on the third day of street protests.
In the case of witness BRC, the strip search was probably illegal; NSW law says a minor must have a parent, guardian or support person of choice present while the search is undertaken.
No such law exists in Queensland, however.
When it comes to police powers in conducting strip searches on teenagers, laws are far from uniform across the country.
Redfern Legal Centre says children should not be strip searched in any circumstance without police first obtaining a court order.
“It should also be mandatory for an adult, independent from police or other state agencies to be present during the search,” Ms Lee said.
Read the full article here (7NEWS.com.au, 24 October 2019)
