Sydney’s Knockout Outdoor festival continues to be plagued by bad news, as one raver has claimed she was strip-searched by police at the event.
Brooke Hayden, a 27-year-old attendee of Knockout, recounted to the media how she alleged that a police officer pulled her from the crowd due to a sniffer dog detecting illegal substances on her when she arrived.
Hayden claimed she was patted down by a male police officer, despite saying she wasn’t in possession of anything illegal.
Hayden’s account is that she then flung her bag to the ground, frustratedly pleading there was nothing in it either. She was then allegedly taken to a closed off zone where she consented to a strip search being conducted by two police women.
“It was a horrible experience, I definitely don’t want to go through it again,” she said.
Hayden’s report of events describes something nobody wants to ever endure.
She described having to strip down and put her hands against a wall while one of the officers touched up and down her body, including her breasts, without wearing gloves.
According to Hayden the other officer then proceeded to slide her hands up and between her legs. She also claims she was forced to squat and cough.
Police strip searches are legal in New South Wales, however they are supposed to be visual checks only. Additionally they must be carried out by officers of the same sex of the person being checked, and can only be carried out on reasonable grounds of suspicion.
Hayden has questioned whether her alleged experience was legal due to how she was touched and asked to cough and squat
Hayden then said she was kicked out of the event, despite not having anything on her.
“It’s made me never want to go to an event in Sydney ever again. Until they bring in the pill testing, and people are no longer being harassed by dogs and officers, I will no longer go to an event in Sydney,” she said.
The calls for pill testing have sparked back up from more than just Brooke Hayden, with the recent Knockout festival also the being the centre of two drug overdoses of attendees.
A NSW Police spokesperson said in a statement to PEDESTRIAN.TV: “If a person wishes to make a complaint about the NSW Police Force or its employees, it can be made in writing to the Commissioner of Police or the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (LECC).”
Organisers of the Knockout Outdoor festival told PTV that it is unable to comment due to it being a police matter.
