It is critical that policing during COVID-19 does not amplify inequalities by prioritising punishment over keeping people safe. There are better ways police can support the community.
In a non-policing context, having to perform such acts would be a serious assault. This is why strip searches are meant to be a last resort and only used in serious and urgent circumstances.
Research led by UNSW has found that the NSW Police policy known as STMP is causing serious harm to young people and undermines the objectives of the NSW youth justice system.
Police accountability and transparency will be the focus of a debate at NSW Parliament House next Thursday 30 July, hosted by UNSW Law and the Redfern Legal Centre.
Police raids without charge and compulsory detention and questioning rarely register as state-sanctioned terror because we're told they keep us safe, writes Dr Vicki Stentas.
