The numbers, obtained by Redfern Legal Centre under freedom of information laws, showed two of the 122 children were just 12 years old and eight were just 13 years old.
On Wednesday, Mr Elliott defended NSW Police’s ability to strip-search children, which has been put under the microscope in NSW this year.
Last month, the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (LECC) held an inquiry into the strip-search of a 16-year-old girl at a music festival.
“I’ve got young children and if I thought the police felt they were at risk of doing something wrong, I’d want them strip-searched,” Mr Elliott said.
“Having been Minister for Juvenile Justice, we have 10-year-olds involved in terrorism activity”.
In regular circumstances, police can strip-search children between the ages of 10 and 18 in NSW only while a parent, guardian or support person is present.
However, if police believe the circumstances are “urgent” or there is a risk that evidence may be destroyed, they can search the child without a parent or guardian present.
RLC’s head of police accountability, Samantha Lee, said the laws should be changed to prohibit the use of strip searches on children unless a court order had been obtained.
“We do not know the circumstances of these particular cases, they are just raw data,” she said.
“But certainly, they do highlight some major concerns in terms of the law and the fact that the law needs to change to protect all children from strip searches.”
Read the full article here (ABC News, 6 November 2019)
