Hundreds of strip and cavity searches following false positive drug dog indications

More than 700 people a year are being stopped by NSW police, stripped naked and subjected to cavity searches for drugs, on the basis of police drug dog indications that are wrong two thirds of the time.

This means up to 500 innocent people a year are being subject to this appalling humiliation, on the basis of drug dog indications that the police knew was most likely falsely indicating the presence of drugs.

The data was obtained from the NSW police by Greens MP David Shoebridge via questioning in Parliament.

See reporting in today’s Sydney Morning Herald:

Invasive strip searches by police have increased by almost a third in NSW over the past five years, with thousands of people stripped naked on the basis of sniffer dogs incorrectly indicating they are carrying drugs.

Distressed patrons from music festivals and other events report being forced to take all their clothes off and squat down so police could check that they were not concealing drugs anywhere on, or in, their body, despite drug dog identifications being wrong the majority of the time.

On Sunday Fairfax Media revealed data obtained by the NSW Greens shows each year about 10,000 innocent people are subjected to general police searches for drugs after sniffer dogs incorrectly indicate they are carrying drugs, with searches turning up no drugs in about 64 per cent of cases.

On Monday night a forum was held in Redfern, which Fairfax Media has revealed people are 6.5 times more likely to be searched. Greens candidate Jenny Leong said if elected she would introduce legislation to shut down sniffer dog use in the general population.

The practice of naked searches after sniffer dog identification has increased by 32 per cent over the past five years, the data shows, despite the NSW Police Force Code of Practice stating that such searches should occur only if “the seriousness and urgency of the situation require” them.

Strip/cavity searches by year following a drug dog indication

According to the NSW Police Force Code of Practice, officers are only supposed to conduct strip searches when they suspect on reasonable grounds that the removal of clothing is necessary to find drugs. The search should only take place if “the seriousness and urgency of the situation require the strip search to be carried out.”

The high rate of false positives in strip searches indicate that police are routinely conducting strip searches on the basis of grossly flawed intelligence. Even when police do find drugs during dog operations, it is normally a small amount with only a tiny proportion of searches ending in supply charges.

The extreme violation of police stripping somebody naked, balanced against the general ineffectiveness of drug sniffer dog operations should lead the government to ban strip searches being conducted in these circumstances.

Greens NSW MLC and Justice Spokesperson David Shoebridge said:

“Where have we got to in this state when police are routinely stripping people down, getting them to squat naked over a mirror and then staring up their backsides, on the basis of a drug dog indication that is wrong two thirds of the time?

“This isn’t just a one-off failure by NSW Police, they have been getting it wrong for years, and no one in government seems willing to lift a finger.

“What is remarkable is that both Labor and the Coalition continue to cheer the practice on, despite the fact that they have access to the same evidence and can see what a gross abuse the drug dog program is.

“No one should be subject to this level of humiliation and embarrassment on such a flimsy and obviously flawed basis.

“Inaccuracy, violations of civil liberties and inappropriate targeting of vulnerable people mean that the drug sniffer dog program should be scrapped immediately.”

Find out more and join the Sniff Off Campaign: https://www.facebook.com/sniffoff