What if police strip-searched your mum?
Last week on the way to Wayside Chapel a long-serving volunteer was stopped by police and searched right in the main street just near the Kings Cross Station. Two male police, I’m told, put this woman through indignity that included removing items of clothing in front of the scores of people who were passing. I’m on public record as a supporter of the Kings Cross Police but behaviour like this does horrendous damage to the police and to our whole community. I guess locals have seen this kind of thing happen often enough but the police tend to target the poorest people in the community and we assume that something legitimate is happening. I think we need to ask however if such behaviour would be OK if those we know and love were subjected to it. Would I be OK if a couple of young cops stopped my mother and asked her to remove some of her clothing in the main street, and would it be OK if they searched in her bra for drugs? If it is not OK for my mother or sister or wife or daughter, why is it OK for this lady or anyone else? What purpose is being served when such indignity is visited upon members of the public? It does not help local business; it does nothing to modify patterns of drug use; it can’t boost anyone’s confidence in the police service. If there is some reason for strip-searching members of the public, then surely police would have to show reasonable ground to suspect illegal behaviour and surely it could be done at the police station where the manner of the police officers could be monitored and evaluated to ensure the maximum chance of dignity. As usual in these cases, no drugs were found.
by Graham Long, Pastor, Wayside Chapel
