New South Wales Consolidated Acts

TERRORISM (POLICE POWERS) ACT 2002 - SECT 26V

26V Power to search persons for seizable items

(1) In this section--

"seizable item" means anything that--

(a) would present a danger to a person, or

(b) could be used to assist a person to escape from lawful custody, or

(c) could be used to contact another person or to operate a device remotely, or

(d) is evidence of, or relates to, a terrorist act.

(2) A police officer may, at or soon after the time when a person is taken into custody under a preventative detention order, search the person and anything in the possession of the person in order to ascertain whether the person is carrying any seizable items.

(3) A police officer is not authorised to search for evidence of, or relating to, a terrorist act, unless the police officer has reasonable cause to suspect the person is carrying such evidence.

(4) The police officer may seize any seizable item found as a result of a search conducted under this section.

(5) Division 4 of Part 4 of the Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Act 2002 extends to the search of a person conducted under this section. However, in addition to section 31 of that Act, a police officer may only strip search a person under this section if the police officer suspects on reasonable grounds that the person is the target of an authorisation within the meaning of Part 2.