Untrained police strip searched music festival patrons: report – The Echo

A collaborative review undertaken by the NSW Police Force and the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission has found improvements in training for police attending music festivals, but gaps in the training roll-out.

The report, Review of a sample of NSW Police Force strip search records 2021-2022, found police have clear training and processes for searching music festival patrons.

‘But less than half of the officers who carried out strip searches at the music festivals in the sample had completed the specialist music festival training’.

The report also found that officers performing searches at the festivals had not used a ‘music festivals field processing form’ designed to help police comply with person-searching law and policy.

The NSW Police Force said they acknowledge these ‘deficiencies’, and attributed the results from the 2021 to 2022 review to a change in organisational priorities owing to Covid-19 public health orders and restrictions.