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Parliamentary Questions


Question Without Notice No. 1265 asked in the Legislative Council on 29 October 2019 by Hon Alison Xamon

Parliament: 40 Session: 1

POLICE — STRIP SEARCHES

1265. Hon ALISON XAMON to the minister representing the Minister for Police:

I refer to the current New South Wales inquiry into strip searches undertaken in the field, rather than searches conducted in police stations or watch houses.

(1) What criteria are required to be satisfied in order for the Western Australia Police Force to lawfully undertake strip searches in the field?

(2) How many field strip searches were conducted in 2018–19?

Hon STEPHEN DAWSON replied:

I thank the honourable member for some notice of the question. The following answer has been provided to me by the Minister for Police. The Western Australia Police Force advises the following.

(1) Strip searching is conducted on a high-risk person. These are persons who are considered at risk of self-harm or possessing security risk items, such as weapons. The second reason is for evidentiary purposes. Powers are given under the Criminal Investigation Act 2006: section 64 defines strip search; section 70 defines police responsibilities; section 72 defines the rules for conducting a strip search; and section 135 defines certain persons who can be searched. All strip searches are conducted in circumstances affording reasonable privacy to the person.

(2) This type of data is not readily available for reporting from within the WA Police Force custodial management application.