Review of the Police Powers (Drug Premises) Act 2001 - NSW ...

7.6. Charges laid under the Drug
Premises Act in Cabramatta
7.6.1. A brief overview
Police in Cabramatta laid a high proportion of the total number
of charges laid under the Drug Premises Act in NSW over the
two year review period.
The table to the right shows the number of charges laid for
each of the key offences in Cabramatta, and the total number of
charges laid for each of these offences in all other LACs.
Thirty-seven per cent (37%) of the charges laid State-wide
over the review period for being found on, entering or leaving
drug premises were laid in Cabramatta, and about 20% of the
charges for the other two key offences in the Drug Premises
Act.
As noted earlier in this chapter, 59 of the 118 people who were
charged on drug premises in Cabramatta were charged with
a drug premises offence only, and were not charged with any
drug offences, such as possession or supply, under the Drug
Misuse and Trafficking Act.
In this section, we will discuss concerns that innocent people
found on drug premises might be charged, and then have
difficulties proving their innocence. We will also discuss
concerns that particular groups, such as young people, might
be targeted in the enforcement of the Drug Premises Act. We
will also set out data on the demographic characteristics of
those who were charged under the Act.
7.6.2. Concerns raised about the
application of the Drug Premises Act
Particular concerns were raised about the use of the Act on
domestic drug premises, and the possibility that innocent
people that were found on drug premises, such as flatmates,
children or spouses, may be charged.
Our examination of police documents relating to uses of the Act
in Cabramatta revealed that police often, though not always,
charged all the people they found on drug premises. In some
cases, this meant that police charged up to seven people
who were on the premises when the warrant was executed.
Charging all persons present is clearly appropriate if police
believe that the place is a drug premises, and that none of
those present had a lawful purpose or excuse for being there.
According to the former Crime Manager at Cabramatta, one
reason why police tended to charge all people on fortified,
non-domestic premises in Cabramatta was because of the
reverse onus, 642 and because of the nature of the place and the
fact that police believed the drug related activity taking place
on the premises was obvious. But, like the other officers at
Number of Charges Laid
Figure 17: Number of drug premises charges laid in Cabramatta and
all other LACs in NSW, 1 July 2001 to 30 June 2003
250
200
150
100
50
0
81
139
Cabramatta local area command
Other local area commands in NSW
13
53
Being found on, entering or Organising,
leaving Drug conducting or assisting
Premises
Drug Premises
Key Drug Premises Offences
Source: Data extracted from the COPS database.
22
86
Allowing premises
to be used
as Drug Premises
Cabramatta we spoke to, the former Crime Manager also noted
that police exercised discretion in instances in which it was clear
that the person on the drug premises was an “orange in a bunch
of apples”. 643
In our focus group with Cabramatta police, officers discussed
how decisions to charge people are made after police enter
premises. We also sought their views on the concern that
innocent people found on drug premises may be charged. One
officer pointed to the various safeguards that exist in the execution
of search warrants, and in the process of deciding whether to
charge particular people. He said there were a number of safety
barriers in how warrants are executed:
You’ve got the Independent Officer who will give advice
to the people, the sergeant who took the warrant out will
give advice to the people doing it, and then you’ve got
to go back to the station and get that charge approved
for a sergeant of police to say, “Yeah, OK, we’ll allow that
charge”, so there’s a number of safety factors before that
person actually gets charged. 644
Another officer said that he believed there hasn’t been too many
mums, or grandmas and grandchildren locked up under the Drug
Premises Act. 645
In the 80 court transcripts we examined relating to people charged
under the Act in Cabramatta, there was no evidence to suggest
that people appeared to have been charged inappropriately. As
we have noted elsewhere, a number of people pleaded guilty to
the charges laid against them. The guilty plea itself may be taken
642 The operation of the “reverse onus” in relation to two drug premises offences is discussed in the Chapter on “Offences in the Drug Premises Act”.
643 Interview, former crime manager, Cabramatta LAC, 22 August 2003.
644 Focus group, Cabramatta police, 2 July 2003.
645 Ibid.
NSW Ombudsman
Review of the Police Powers (Drug Premises) Act 2001 121