Review of the Police Powers (Drug Premises) Act 2001 - NSW ...
Review of the Police Powers (Drug Premises) Act 2001 - NSW ...
Review of the Police Powers (Drug Premises) Act 2001 - NSW ...
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Part Two. <strong>Drug</strong> premises<br />
Chapter 4. <strong>Drug</strong> premises<br />
search warrants<br />
Search warrants provide <strong>the</strong> legal authority for police to enter and search premises. <strong>Drug</strong> premises search warrants are a new type <strong>of</strong><br />
search warrant that provide <strong>the</strong> authority for police to enter, and search premises where <strong>the</strong>re are reasonable grounds to believe <strong>the</strong>y are<br />
operating for <strong>the</strong> purposes <strong>of</strong> supplying or manufacturing prohibited drugs.<br />
In order to obtain a search warrant, a police <strong>of</strong>ficer must first prepare a search warrant application.<br />
<strong>Drug</strong> premises search warrant applications were important for us to examine because <strong>the</strong>y demonstrate <strong>the</strong> basis upon which police<br />
explained that <strong>the</strong>y had reasonable grounds for believing that particular premises were drug premises. In addition, concerns were<br />
expressed 173 that <strong>the</strong> <strong>Drug</strong> <strong>Premises</strong> <strong>Act</strong> lowered <strong>the</strong> threshold for obtaining search warrants, and that premises may be wrongly identified<br />
as drug premises.<br />
In this chapter, we look in detail at <strong>the</strong> drug premises search warrant applications that we received from <strong>NSW</strong> <strong>Police</strong> for <strong>the</strong> purposes <strong>of</strong><br />
our review. We also describe <strong>the</strong> process <strong>of</strong> applying for drug premises search warrants, and discuss particular issues that have been<br />
raised, such as <strong>the</strong> requirement that an <strong>of</strong>ficer <strong>of</strong> or above <strong>the</strong> rank <strong>of</strong> sergeant apply for <strong>the</strong> search warrant.<br />
4.1. <strong>Drug</strong> premises search warrants<br />
Unlike <strong>the</strong> Search Warrants <strong>Act</strong>, which authorises police to search for a particular thing or things, 174 <strong>the</strong> <strong>Drug</strong> <strong>Premises</strong> <strong>Act</strong> authorises<br />
police to search a premises if police have reasonable grounds for believing that <strong>the</strong> premises is being used for a particular purpose, <strong>the</strong><br />
unlawful supply or manufacture <strong>of</strong> prohibited drugs. 175<br />
173 These concerns were expressed in submissions we received to our discussion paper from North and North West Community Legal Service and<br />
from <strong>the</strong> East Area Tenants Service. These concerns are discussed later in this chapter.<br />
174 Search Warrants <strong>Act</strong>, s. 5.<br />
175 <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Powers</strong> (<strong>Drug</strong> <strong>Premises</strong>) <strong>Act</strong>, s. 5(1).<br />
<strong>NSW</strong> Ombudsman<br />
<strong>Review</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Powers</strong> (<strong>Drug</strong> <strong>Premises</strong>) <strong>Act</strong> <strong>2001</strong> 41