A fresh NSW Police policy allowing sniffer dog patrols to exclude festival punters from entering event grounds, even if no illicit substances are found during a subsequent search, has received widespread condemnation from partygoers and politicians alike.
Yesterday, Assistant Commissioner Peter Thurtell announced officers will be able keep punters looking to attend this weekend’s Above & Beyond festival from entering the Sydney Showgrounds if a drug dog indicates they “recently had drugs on them, regardless of whether drugs are located.”
The move has not gone down well with potential festival attendees. “So fucking pissed if I don’t get let into the festivals I’m looking forward to,” wrote one on Twitter.
“How about we try sniffer dogs at the Members at Royal Randwick, the opera or swanky Eastern Suburbs soirées,” said another.
After lamenting the fact police will have the ability to bar someone even if a search detects they’re not carrying drugs, a third said “welcome to Sydney. Jesus Christ.”
Commenting on an article highlighting the high percentages of false positives produced by sniffer dogs, NSW Greens MP David Shoebridge said NSW Police had also undertaken the measures at last month’s Midnight Mafia event.
In a subsequent statement, Shoebridge said “being young in public is now a criminal offence,” adding that punters “who have spent upwards of a hundred dollars will see their tickets effectively torn up as some kind of perverse punishment by police.”
The move comes weeks after Canberra’s Groovin The Moo festival ran an Australian-first pill-testing pilot, which allowed festival attendees to get feedback on the exact composition of any illicit substances they intended to ingest – without fear of prosecution.
The trial was widely regarded as a success after identifying substances that could have caused serious harm if ingested. Still, the latest police announcement shows that harm-prevention approach is still a way off for punters in NSW.
