Editing Detection dog (section)

====Australia====
[[File:Drug Dog Newtown Station 2017.webm|thumb|Police and a drug detection dog at [[Newtown railway station, Sydney|Newtown train station]] in [[Sydney]] in 2017]]
In 2001, the Australian state of [[New South Wales]] introduced legislation that granted police the power to use drug detection dogs without a warrant in public places such as licensed venues (venues licensed to serve alcohol), [[Music festival|music festivals]], and [[Sydney Trains|public transport]].<ref name=":2006">{{cite report |url=https://www.ombo.nsw.gov.au/reports/report-to-parliament/police-powers-drug-detection-dogs-act-2001-review-october-2006 |title=Review of the Police Powers (Drug Detection Dogs) Act 2001 |date=June 2006 |work=[[Ombudsmen in Australia#New South Wales Ombudsman|New South Wales Ombudsman]] |isbn=1-921131-36-5 |pages=}}</ref>{{rp|1}}

The law was reviewed in 2006 by the [[Ombudsmen in Australia|New South Wales Ombudsman]], who handed down a critical report regarding the use of dogs for drug detection. The report stated that prohibited drugs were found in only 26% of searches following an indication by a drug sniffer dog. Of these, 84% were for small amounts of [[cannabis]] deemed for personal use.<ref name=":2006" />{{Rp|page=29}} Subsequent figures obtained from NSW Police in 2023 revealed that between 1 January 2013 and 30 June 2023, officers had conducted 94,535 personal searches (refers to both [[Strip search|strip searches]] and less invasive [[Frisking|frisk]] or "general" searches) resulting from drug detection dog indications, with only 25% resulting in illicit drugs being found.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Mcleod |first=Catie |date=9 November 2023 |title=NSW police sniffer dogs incorrectly detect drugs on patrons despite costing taxpayers $46m over past decade |url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/nov/09/nsw-police-sniffer-dogs-incorrectly-detect-illicit-drugs-despite-costing-taxpayers-46m-over-past-decade |work=[[The Guardian]] }}</ref>

In late 2014, reports were first published alleging that NSW Police were routinely using drug detection dog indications as a justification for conducting invasive strip searches, particularly at major events such as music festivals (see [[New South Wales Police Force strip search scandal]]).<ref name=":vice">{{Cite news|last=Gregoire|first=Paul|date=10 October 2014|title=Strip Searches are Now Routine in New South Wales|work=Vice|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/strip-searches-are-routine-at-new-south-wales-music-festivals/}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite news|last=Corderoy|first=Amy|date=2 December 2014|title=Police in doghouse over strip searches|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/police-in-doghouse-over-strip-searches-20141201-11xpzh.html}}</ref> Data obtained from NSW Police shows that between 1 July 2014 and 30 June 2020, officers conducted 27,835 strip searches "in the field" (outside of a police station).<ref name=":unsw">{{Cite book |last1=Sentas |first1=Vicki |url=https://rlc.org.au/sites/default/files/attachments/Rethinking-strip-searches-by-NSW-Police-web_0.pdf |title=Rethinking Strip Searches by NSW Police |last2=Grewcock |first2=Michael |date=August 2019 |publisher=UNSW |isbn=978-0-7334-3877-6 |location=}}</ref>{{Rp|page=25}}<ref name=":lecc final">[https://www.lecc.nsw.gov.au/news-and-publications/publications/final-report-an-inquiry-into-nsw-police-force-strip-search-practices-15-december-2020.pdf Inquiry into NSW Police Force strip search practices.] Law Enforcement Conduct Commission. December 2020</ref>{{Rp|page=12}} Separate data shows that during the same six-year period, officers conducted 5659 strip searches resulting from drug detection dog indications.<ref name=":lecc final" />{{Rp|page=72}} 

In October 2018, the [[Law Enforcement Conduct Commission]] launched a formal investigation into the use of strip searches by NSW Police.<ref name=":lecc final" />{{Rp|page=ii}} In a final report handed down in December 2020, the commission found that there had been a "significant increase" in the "number and proportion" of strip searches carried out following drug detection dog indications in the five years between 2014 and 2019.<ref name=":lecc final" />{{Rp|page=71}} In July 2022, a [[class action]] was filed in the [[Supreme Court of New South Wales]] on behalf of patrons strip searched at music festivals by NSW Police from July 2016 onwards. Head plaintiff for the class action is a then 27-year-old woman who was wrongly strip searched at the [[Splendour in the Grass]] music festival in 2018 after being stopped by a drug detection dog.<ref>{{Cite news |last=McGowan |first=Michael |date=22 July 2022 |title=Music festival patrons launch class action against NSW police alleging unlawful strip-searches |url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jul/22/music-festival-patrons-launch-class-action-against-nsw-police-alleging-unlawful-strip-searches |work=The Guardian}}</ref>