A new report commissioned by Redfern Legal Centre and prepared by UNSW Law academics shows that NSW Police use of strip searches has increased almost twentyfold over the past twenty years.
The report found that just 30 percent of strip searches conducted in the 2017-18 financial year resulted in a criminal charge and suggested that the use of drug dogs may be fuelling unnecessary strip searches.
“Our research suggests that NSW Police are using strip searches routinely with little regard for the law and their own internal guidelines,” Dr Grewcock said.
“Strip Searches are an invasive, humiliating and harmful process, and as such, should be only used in exceptional circumstances when no other alternative is available,” said Redfern Legal Centre solicitor Samantha Lee.
The report recommends changes to the law to clarify when and how police conduct strip searches.
Read the full article here (Junkee, 22 August 2019)
