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Young voices silenced by ‘questionable’ LECC inquiry action
Redfern Legal Centre has spoken out about concerns following the announcement that the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (LECC) public inquiry into strip searches on minors by NSW Police has been cut short.
Tony Zhang
The voices of young people have been silenced, according to the legal body, who spoke out following the announcement of the removal of Chief Commissioner of the LECC, Michael Adams, QC, before the end of his term – just weeks before further hearings investigating the psychological impact of strip searches on minors were due to be heard.
“The LECC hearings have provided a powerful outlet for the voices of young people to be heard, uncovering shocking allegations of potential police misconduct. These are allegations that would otherwise have remained confidential and hidden.”
Just before Christmas, the departure of Mr Adams was silently announced by special minister of state, Don Harwin.
Mr Adams, the inaugural head of the police watchdog introduced in 2017 was part way through leading a controversial inquiry into the use of strip-search powers on minors by police.
The high-profile investigation included two sets of public hearings that had unearthed evidence of police conducting potentially illegal strip searches on children as young as 10. Furthermore, it was revealed many police did not understand the laws governing strip searches.
It was previously revealed by the RLC that between the financial years 2016-17 and 2017-18, 296 children were strip searched.
Of young people aged 18 to 25, 4,011 were strip searched, accounting for 41 per cent of searches conducted across the state. The youngest person strip searched was aged 10, and the oldest aged 82 years.
Furthermore, 50 legal organisations across NSW, including prominent members of the legal profession, have signed an open letter to the state’s police minister outlining the harmful impacts of strip searches. RLC and UNSW law academics Dr Michael Grewcock and Dr Vicki Sentas had called for immediate reforms to strip-searching laws.
Several questions are being raised if the hearings will still go ahead and if reform for strip-searching processes will ever happen.
The investigation had not yet concluded when in December, Mr Adams said further hearings slated for late January or February would “focus on the psychological issues raised by strip searching of young persons”.
The decision to cut short the strip-search inquiry has been widely criticised. Andrew Stone SC, the NSW state president of the Australian Lawyers Alliance, stated that the issue “goes to the very heart of public confidence in the police and must be fully examined”.
“The evidence heard by this inquiry to date requires thorough, ongoing investigation to determine whether police have conducted illegal strip-searches of minors,” Mr Stone said.
In what would seem to be a landmark inquiry, Mr Adams had just got the ball rolling when he signaled that the LECC would begin investigating the Suspect Target Management Plan, a “hidden” blacklist used by the state’s police force to target children as young as 10 for monitoring despite them not having committed any crime.
Under his watch, the LECC also revealed widespread mismanagement of the NSW child protection register that led to a child being sexually abused by a sex offender who should have been monitored by police and two people being unlawfully imprisoned.
Yet Mr Adams’s time as Chief Commissioner became increasingly tense over the past 18 months, from criticism by the Police Association, an audit office investigation, outspoken commentary and complaints about funding cuts, and a public spat with a former police minister.
An investigation was further conducted by respected barrister Bruce McClintock SC, assistant inspector of the LECC, who found that the relationship between its commissioner for oversight, Patrick Saidi, and its chief commissioner, Mr Adams, had broken down to such an extent that it would “damage the operational capacity” of the agency. It was known that Mr Saidi was removed from the LECC shortly after Mr Adams.
The LECC was formed in 2017 through a merger of oversight agencies, including the Police Integrity Commission, the Inspector of the NSW Crime Commission, and the policing division of the NSW Ombudsman’s office. During 2018 and 2019 it received 2,547 complaints relating to issues in the NSW Police Force and the NSW Crime Commission.
“It has taken enormous courage for these young people to come forward and speak out about potentially illegal police conduct. These brave young people’s voices should not be silenced,” said Ms Lee.
“It is vital that NSW has a well-funded, highly resourced and independent police watchdog, one which can act with integrity and independence.
“The recent removal of two LECC commissioners and the cutting short of the strip search inquiry will not instil public confidence in such processes.”
