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

The NSW Police Force also advised:
It is open to police to maintain an element of surprise in non-[drug detection trial] operations targeting specific
persons/vehicles. Seizures of large amounts of drugs and/or proceeds of drug supply have been affected
via the stopping and searching of a target vehicle under [other] legislation (based on intelligence or other
information). The ‘surprise factor’ is increased when unmarked police cars are used, a situation which is not
easily replicated at [drug detection trial] check points not least because drug dogs can only be transported in
fully marked police vehicles. 331
The Police Association of NSW advised:
Members are of the shared view that a major failure of the legislation is that it does not permit for the ‘element
of surprise’ strategy. As many police can attest, the element of surprise in the use of police operations is
extremely important and does work. 332
One senior officer we interviewed noted that conducting operations at truck stops increased the element of surprise
although the officer acknowledged that no drugs were seized utilising this strategy. 333
Another senior officer suggested that it was not possible to have an element of surprise because of the number of
police required to run an operation:
… truckies expect to see two or three highway patrol vehicles at any given time [on a stretch of highway] but
once you get a congregation of police, which is required under the legislation for all of the different parts, they
know straight away that there’s an operation going on. 334
Another senior officer suggested that having the ability to ‘pop up here and there’ under an authorisation without a
search area restriction would allow police to conduct more mobile and flexible operations, which would ensure the
element of surprise for operations. 335 This is discussed further below (at paragraph 5.5.4.1).
5.5.3. Capacity of drug detection dogs
Another factor that has the potential to significantly impact on the effectiveness of drug detection operations is the
capacity of drug detection dogs to detect the scent of prohibited drugs while screening the exterior of vehicles.
There appear to be a number of factors that may limit the dogs’ capacity to detect the scent of prohibited drugs
during drug detection operations. Some of these are environmental such as noise and temperature, while others
are more fundamental as they call into question the capacity of the dogs to effectively perform the task which is
the basis of drug detection operations. Namely, the ‘fast and non-intrusive’ screening of vehicles stopped at check
points. 336 Another factor might be the ease with which drugs can be secreted in a heavy vehicle or packed in a
vacuum sealed package. 337
A number of senior officers we spoke to or interviewed raised concerns about the capacity of drug detection dogs.
Below is a sample of their comments:
… the hardest thing that they’ve tried to do here is think that a dog can walk around a semi-trailer that’s fully
laden and sniff drugs that could be well inside … 338
… it’s a very hard thing for a dog to get a detection on a hot vehicle just pulled up … 339
… the dog was struggling trying to sniff in between the cracks in the doors, trying to look for something. 340
In addition, officers commented on environmental factors that might affect the dogs’ performance:
For the dog to operate at optimal capacity in the summer months in the Western Region are non existent.
They will work for 5 to 10 minutes and have to have a break, they were just exhausted due to the actual heat,
and not only that, the road heat on the paws. 341
It should be noted that the heat resulted in dog fatigue and any future operation during mid summer should be
planned for hour of darkness. 342
The majority of officers suggested that the legislation, which limits the areas of a vehicle where the dogs may screen,
hampered the dogs’ capacity:
It would appear that drug detection dogs have limitations on picking up the scent of drugs concealed within
a vehicle or on persons remaining inside a vehicle which is the subject of screening. 343
NSW Ombudsman
Review of the Police Powers (Drug Detection Trial) Act 2003
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