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

patches inside the hallway cupboard. In the loungeroom, Police further located used syringes, in the entertainment unit, and
under the offender’s bed. Inside the kitchen, Police located a large quantity of used syringes in side a open kitchen bin. Many
syringes contained residue and traces of blood. Police located further empty boxes of Bulk Pack’s of syringes of the same
type and quality as located about the unit. Police also located during the search, a large number of plastic resealable bags,
throughout the unit. Police also located a set of scales, which he stated, “You know what they are for.”
(e) During the search of the premises, Police located paperwork, that depicts orders, which is indicative of drug supply of the
names and money values. 268
Other event narratives that we examined did not directly relate the items that police seized to the indicia that define drug premises in the
Act, but almost all event narratives outlined items that police seized from the premises. In a focus group we conducted at Cabramatta
police, we asked officers about the role of event narratives, and one officer said:
... it’s your facts sheet … ninety per cent of the time … you just put in your proofs … you set out your background … the way I teach
my staff, is that the event narrative is your facts sheet, so that the boss can read everything that’s happened. 269
5.5. Indicia of drug premises in the Act
We will discuss the indicia set out in the legislation that may be used to define drug premises below. Data on how often police noted
that particular indicia were evident on identified drug premises is provided, and any concerns that were brought to our attention about
particular indicia are discussed.
5.5.1. Section 11(2)(a): Evidence that a police officer was wilfully prevented from entering
drug premises
It is an offence to wilfully prevent a police officer from entering or re-entering premises. 270 Evidence that this had occurred is also one of
the indicia that can be used to define drug premises. 271
During the review period, six charges were laid for wilfully preventing a police officer from entering or re-entering premises. The incident
documented below is an example of a circumstance in which this is alleged to have occurred. 272 As this extract from the event narrative
also suggests, police suspected that their entry had been delayed so that the occupants could flush items down the toilet:
Upon arrival at the premises Police knocked on the front door and announced their office. The defendant [name] opened the
wooden door slightly and upon sighting police slammed it shut. A sound of the door being barricaded by objects inside was heard.
Police again announced their office and lawful purpose.
At this point the defendant was sighted in the bathroom of the unit flushing something down the toilet. A sledge hammer was used
to force the front door. Police at the rear of the premises could hear the occupants yelling “Flush it, flush it.” Police eventually gain
entry into the premises after forcing a bed and wooden sleeper away from the door. The defendant was sighted standing in the toilet
flushing it. The defendant was requested to come into the loungeroom, however refused and became violent. The defendant was
forced from the toilet onto the bed where he continued to thrash his arms and legs. He was eventually handcuffed and restrained.
Two other occupants of the unit who attempted to jump out of the rear window were also detained and handcuffed. 273
Later on, during the execution of the search warrant, the defendant referred to above requested a can of Coca Cola. Police gave him
a drink, which he then emptied onto a table in the lounge room that “contained cannabis residue”. 274 He was then taken to the police
station, and charged with various offences, including allowing his premises to be used as drug premises, hindering and obstructing the
execution of a search warrant, and resisting an officer in the execution of their duties. 275 However, we do not know if the obstruction of the
police entry was used at court as indicia that the premises was drug premises.
268 COPS event narrative, Greater Metropolitan Region, Drug Premises Incident 24.
269 Focus group, Cabramatta police, 2 July 2003.
270 Police Powers (Drug Premises) Act, s. 9. It is not necessary for premises to be proved to be drug premises to be convicted of this offence.
271 Police Powers (Drug Premises) Act, s. 11(2)(a).
272 However, it appears that this person was charged under section 9 of the Search Warrants Act 1985, with the offence of obstructing a person
executed a search warrant. Both this, and the offence in section 9 of the Drug Premises Act involve obstructing a person in the execution of a
search warrant, except the maximum penalty is double the penalty that is contained in the Drug Premises Act. The other difference between the
two offences is that the drug premises section 9 offence includes additional provisions that relate to delaying an officer from entering premises,
giving alarm, and notifying another person of the presence of an officer.
273 COPS event narrative, Greater Metropolitan Region, Incident 12, 24 October 2002.
274 Ibid.
275 Ibid.
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NSW Ombudsman
Review of the Police Powers (Drug Premises) Act 2001