Over the past two years, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Dubbo were subjected to the highest number of strip searches out of anywhere in the state, NSW police data reveals.
Allison Hore reports for The Daily Liberal.
The data obtained by the Redfern Legal Centre through access to information laws shows police conducted a total of 46 strip searches on First Nations people in Dubbo over a two-year period from July 1, 2020 to May 24, 2022 - the highest number anywhere in NSW.
Only 16.1 per cent of Dubbo's population is Indigenous but more than half of all strip searches conducted by local police were on Indigenous people - with 80 strip searches conducted in total, the highest number in regional NSW.
"Dubbo does, unfortunately, stand out like a sore thumb when it comes to the number of strip searches," Redfern Legal Centre police accountability senior solicitor, Samantha Lee told the Daily Liberal.
"I don't think you can assume from the high number of strip searches that there's more crime out there - the way we're looking at it is the high numbers indicate there's a real problem out at Dubbo in terms of police understanding this type of procedure and there needs to be a reeling in of these searches."
Read full article: 'Simply unacceptable': Dubbo tops the state for strip searches on Indigenous people (Daily Liberal, 25 August 2022)
