NSW Police has defended weekend raids on nightclubs in Sydney’s Oxford Street area after club-goers and a state MP raised concerns about the scale and impact of the operation on the LGBTQIA+ community.
Police said officers searched 65 people during what they described as an intelligence-led operation across 14 licensed premises. The operation resulted in 28 drug detections, 12 fines, six cannabis cautions and one move-on direction, according to NSW Police.
Deputy Commissioner Peter McKenna rejected suggestions that the community had been targeted. He said five or six of the venues visited might be considered places frequented by LGBTQIA+ people, while police also conducted a drug-dog operation in the Kings Cross precinct. Mr McKenna said police needed to operate across venues to avoid encouraging drug suppliers.
Video supplied by club-goer James Twigg showed more than a dozen officers and a drug detection dog entering one venue. Mr Twigg told 702 ABC Sydney that officers went through the club and that many people left because they felt uncomfortable. He said the operation reminded him of historical police treatment of the LGBT community and raised concerns about the financial impact on the venue.
Mr McKenna said he had reviewed police body-worn camera footage and considered officers to have been polite, professional and unobtrusive. NSW Police said the Surry Hills Police Area Command remained committed to working collaboratively and respectfully with the local community, including LGBTQIA+ people.
NSW Member for Sydney Alex Greenwich said he would refer the latest raid to the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission, questioning the resources used and the intelligence behind the operation. The referral follows similar June raids during Pride Month. Those searches are already subject to a misconduct investigation that was reopened after the police watchdog used statutory powers to direct NSW Police to investigate.