NSW police have warned punters heading to Future Music Festival and Soundwave in Sydney this weekend that a high visibility sniffer dog operation will be underway at both events.
Despite an ongoing debate about the effectiveness of sniffer dogs at festivals, NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Frank Mennilli and Superintendent Gavin Dengate confirmed that at this weekend’s events, “both overt and covert police will target anyone taking or dealing drugs and they’ll be assisted by drug detection dogs.”
“While the majority of the crowd enjoys the festival safely, there are an unfortunate few who choose to break the law,” Assistant Commissioner Mennilli said. “Police in and around the showground will be focused on anyone taking or dealing illicit drugs, underage drinking, anti-social behaviour and alcohol fuelled violence.”
NSW Police also warned that they will be patrolling trains, stations and transport hubs “so anyone planning to have a few drinks on the way to the festival can expect to have it confiscated.”
The police’s handling of drug detection operations at music festivals has been the subject of ongoing debate, with many in both the music industry and the public health sector calling for a new approach.
Following the recent deaths of two young festival-goers in Sydney, experts have been calling for a system of pill testing – similar to those undertaken in Europe – to become part of the Australian festival experience, so users know exactly what’s in the drugs they’re thinking of taking.
Dr Alex Wodak, a key voice in drug law reform, told the ABC’s 7.30 Report that the proportion of young people carrying drugs in NSW has increased alongside the rise in the use of sniffer dogs at events. He thinks pill testing at festivals might also lead to changing behaviour from drug makers and dealers.
A report conducted last year by the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre found evidence that the presence of sniffer dogs at Australian festivals increased the likelihood of punters to preload, that is, ingesting all their drugs at once outside the venue to avoid being caught by police.
The study also found a 40 percent increase in the relative amount of consumption of ecstasy, methamphetamine and other drugs, as opposed to marijuana – a drug dogs find it easier to sniff out.
Compounding all this, other data studies have also questioned the accuracy of sniffer dog operations. As reported by Fairfax, data obtained in 2014 by the NSW Greens showed that tens of thousands of NSW residents had been being subjected to public police searches after being falsely identified as carrying drugs by the dogs.
“Their rights are trespassed, they are subject to an intrusive and humiliating public search, and on each occasion that happens the police know that they are far more likely than not to find no drugs, and to not have a proper basis for the search – yet nobody is doing anything about it,” said Greens MP David Shoebridge.
Still, the NSW Police’s stance on the issue has yet to waver and sniffer dog operations will be underway in Sydney this weekend.
Future Music Festival will kick off at Sydney’s Randwick Racecourse tomorrow, Saturday 28th February, at the same time Soundwave Festival kicks off its Sydney leg at Olympic Park.
