Review of the Police Powers (Drug Detection Trial) Act 2003 - NSW ...

Chapter 1.
Introduction
1.1. Background
In 2003 the NSW Government introduced the Police Powers (Border Areas Trial) Bill 2003 into Parliament in response
to requests from police seeking new powers to tackle the vehicular trafficking of prohibited drugs between New South
Wales, Victoria and South Australia.
As the law stood at the time, police could only stop, search and detain a vehicle if they suspected on reasonable
grounds that drugs were in the particular vehicle. This requirement constrained police who had developed profiles
about the routes, vehicles, times and concealment methods utilised by drug traffickers.
In an attempt to address this constraint, Parliament enacted legislation to trial giving police the power to conduct
operations based on ‘generic intelligence’ — that is, generalised (rather than specific) information about the
trafficking of drugs in particular geographical areas such as highways.
The Police Powers (Drug Detection in Borders Area Trial) Act 2003 (‘the Border Areas Trial Act’), which commenced
on 15 January 2004, established an 18-month trial giving police the power to set up roadside check points to stop
and screen vehicles with drug detection dogs. The Border Areas Trial Act was specifically aimed at detecting the
trafficking of indictable quantities of prohibited drugs. 1
The Parliament required the Ombudsman to monitor the first nine months of operation of the Border Areas Trial Act.
A report detailing our activities, findings and recommendations was provided to the Attorney General, Minister for
Police and Commissioner of Police on 10 January 2005. 2 The Attorney General tabled the report in Parliament on
25 October 2006.
Our review found that despite the professional and diligent efforts of police, the objective of the Borders Areas Trial
Act — to effectively target the trafficking of indictable quantities of prohibited drugs — had not been met. During
the review period police conducted nine operations involving 234 officers at a cost of $669,188, which included
infrastructure upgrades costing $410,000. Two indictable quantities of drugs were seized but neither seizure
resulted in a successful supply prosecution.
We noted that police were in some respects hampered by requirements of the legislation and we made various
recommendations aimed at improving police practice and procedure should the Parliament consider extending the
trial. However, the results and cost of the trial led us to question whether the continued allocation of public resources
to the trial was in the public interest. We also noted that there might be more cost effective strategies to target
vehicles carrying significant quantities of drugs. Accordingly, we recommended that Parliament consider allowing
the Border Areas Trial Act to expire pursuant to the sunset clause.
The Border Areas Trial Act expired on 15 July 2005 pursuant to the sunset clause. Police did not conduct any further
operations after the delivery of our final report on 10 January 2005.
1.2. Further drug detection trial
On 25 October 2006, the day our report into the Border Areas Trial Act was tabled in Parliament, the media reported
that the Minister for Police would announce a further drug detection trial enabling police to stop and screen vehicles
on any main road across the state. 3 One media report suggested that police would be able ‘to conduct snap raids
without warrants’. The Minister for Police was quoted as saying:
These lightning searches maintain the element of surprise — reducing the chance of drug traffickers disposing
of evidence and evading detection by using alternative routes. 4
On 14 November 2006, the NSW Government introduced the Police Powers Legislation Amendment Bill 2006 into
Parliament. The bill provided for the revival of the Border Areas Trial Act — to be known as the Drug Detection Trial
Act — by establishing a further 18-month trial that:
… steps up the fight against the transportation of illicit drugs into, out of, and around New South Wales. The new
regime … will incorporate the changes to police practice and procedure recommended by the Ombudsman
following his review of the previous scheme. 5
NSW Ombudsman
Review of the Police Powers (Drug Detection Trial) Act 2003
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