A gym instructor claims she was subjected to a ‘disgusting’ and ‘illegal’ strip search by NSW Police at Sydney’s ill-fated Knockout music festival.
Brooke Hayden, 27, claims female officers touched her body including her breasts and between her legs after being told to remove her clothes in a police area at Sydney Showground on Saturday.
The Parramatta woman, who was adamant she was not carrying any drugs, posted to social media that she is refusing to keep quiet about the ‘horrible’ experience.
Two men who attended the hardstyle music festival died from suspected drug overdoses. One was aged 26 and the other 21.
Brooke Hayden, 27, claims female officers touched her body including her breasts and between her legs after being told to remove her clothes in a police area at Sydney Showground
Two people are believed to have died from suspected drug overdoses at the Knockout hardstyle music festival attended by more than 53,000 people
Twenty seven were charged with illegal drug possession while four were charged with supplying a prohibited drug. Pictured: police and a sniffer dog on patrol at the Splendour in the Grass festival in July
Out of a crowd of 53,000 people 27 were charged with illegal drug possession while two men and two women were charged with supplying a prohibited drug.
Ms Hayden told news.com.au she was made to squat and cough and was asked questions while she was undressed – all of which are illegal.
She was singled out by an officer who claimed a sniffer dog had detected an illicit substance on her.
She was ‘patted down’ by the same officer before two other male officers restrained her and searched her bag. They found nothing.
She was then asked to agree to strip search by two female officers, which she did.
One of the officers touched her body including her breasts. A second, wearing gloves, slid her hand up Ms Hayden’s leg and between her legs.
‘When her hand slid up it was like a really quick, just a finger tip, but she didn’t get her fingers right up there.
‘It was honestly disgusting, having someone’s hands all over me.’
While strip searches are legal, police are only permitted to touch a person’s body while clothed, or to ‘visually search’ someone who has removed their clothes.
Ms Hayden said she was made to squat and cough and was asked questions while she was undressed – all of which are illegal
‘Police may visually search genitals or breasts if they suspect on reasonable grounds it is necessary to do so for the purposes of the search,’ according to a fact sheet published by Redfern Legal Central.
‘Police are not allowed to search your body cavities, except for your mouth.’
They are also not allowed to ask questions while conducting a strip search.
Ms Hayden said she was so traumatised by the experience and won’t attend a music festival again until laws change.
She wants officers and dogs to stop ‘harassing’ people and she also believes pill testing should be available at festivals to determine whether recreational drugs are safe.
A 2019 report by the University of NSW found that strip searches are usually conducted to look for illegal drugs but that most of the time they don’t find anything illegal.
This year the results of an independent enquiry found police are not following the law in the majority of strip searches.
Ms Hayden does not want to attend further music festivals because she felt harrassed
They followed rules surrounding privacy and dignity in only 27 per cent of cases.
This year the Greens released information showing police sniffer dogs’ drug detection success rate was just 25 per cent of the time in the past decade.
NSW Police told Daily Mail Australia officers conducting searches ‘must have the state of mind’ required by Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibility) Act (LEPRA).
‘The legislation contains safeguards to preserve the privacy and dignity of members of the public.
‘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).’
