Redfern Legal Centre’s police powers solicitor Samantha Lee discussed the increased use of strip search procedures by the NSW police in recent years and called for an end to the use of so-called ‘privacy screens’ in high traffic areas such as Sydney’s Central Station.
‘You can see under the screen, it appears you can see a silhouette through the screen – there is absolutely no way that is a private area’ said Ms Lee.
Last year Redfern Legal Centre launched the Safe and Sound campaign, which is calling for a change of NSW strip laws ‘to ensure there are better safeguards for members of the public,’ said Ms Lee.
‘Strip search laws are the only laws that I know in Australia that legally allow police to require a child as young as ten to take off all their clothes in front of two adults in a strange environment’
RLC is urging anyone who has been subjected to a strip search on a train station to contact RLC or the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (LECC), which is the independent police watchdog investigating the use of strip searches by NSW Police.
Listen to the full radio interview here (ABC 702 Weekend, 18 May 2019)
