26VPower to search persons for seizable items

26V Power to search persons for seizable items

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.

s 26V: Ins 2005 No 114, Sch 1 [1]. Am 2017 No 40, Sch 1.12 [2]; 2018 No 92, Sch 1 [14].