The NSW Police commissioner says a report that found strip searches in the state had been performed illegally and at a rapidly increasing rate is incorrect.
Facing questions from NSW Greens MLC David Shoebridge, commissioner Mick Fuller rebuffed an unsettling study that was released by the Redfern Legal Centre last week.
The study alleged strip searches in the state had increased from 277 between December 2005 and November 2006 to 5483 in 2017/18.
Fuller told NSW budget estimates the figures were wrong, saying there were at least 800 strip searches between 2005-2006 and that a codification change had resulted in an increase in searches over time. Essentially, better training and record keeping had led to an increase of documentation.
“Around that time, (Law Enforcement Powers and Responsibilities Act) LEPRA codified what a search was,” he said. “Police training increased dramatically, supervision and recording standards improved.”
The Greens’ David Shoebridge told Pedestrian TV that it was “remarkable” for the police to rebuff the figures:
“If the police say these figures are wrong, it has taken them 12 years to get around to mentioning it,” he said.
Shoebridge also asked commissioner Fuller about the testimony of a 28-year-old witness at the coronial inquiry into pill deaths earlier this year.
In the testimony, the woman told the Coroners Court a female police officer had told her during a strip search “if you don’t tell me where the drugs are I’m going to make this nice and slow.”
“I had to take my top off and my bra, and I covered my boobs and she told me to put my hands up,” said the witness.
Fuller called the woman a “mystery witness” and “secret witness” speaking behind a “veil of anonymity,” before insisting the woman give their name “if they are so concerned”.
It should be noted: Fuller’s own police legal team would’ve known the woman in question’s identity. There was no anonymity in play during the inquest, rather, she could not be identified for legal reasons.
“The police can’t deny we’ve seen an extraordinary increase in strip searches when nothing has changed under the law,” said Shoebridge.
“The only rational explanation is that it is due to more aggressive policing.”
