“Sniffing Out Queers Instead Of Crime”: NSW Police Condemned For Yet Another Oxford St Drug Raid

Sydney’s LGBTQ+ community are criticising NSW Police for another “excessive” and “intimidating” drug raid on Oxford Street. 

The Surry Hills Police Area Command were deployed to Darlinghurst on Saturday 12 September, where patrons of Kinselas, ARQ, and the Columbian Hotel observed approximately 15 officers roaming Oxford Street, entering venues, and conducting drug searches. 

“My friend and I watched around 15 police walk up and down the lines in front of ARQ at about 11:30,” one patron told the Star Observer. “They also went into the venue.”

“It was super stressful for the venue staff just trying to put on a party. It’s a Saturday night, it’s ridiculous that so many police are on Oxford Street for any reason.”

During the operation, Police searched 65 people and secured 28 drug detections. The operation produced no charges or arrests.

It comes just three months after NSW Police’s last raid on the area, which witnesses described as unprofessional and aggressive and is currently the subject of an open LECC misconduct investigation. 

According to The NSW Council for Civil Liberties (NSWCCL), the timing of this latest raid could not be more inappropriate.

“Carrying out these intimidating raids while the NSW Police are already under orders from the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (LECC) to reinvestigate identical police misconduct from June, is unacceptable,” said President of NSWCCL, Timothy Roberts. “Doubling down on these tactics shows a clear lack of respect for the community.

“Targeting marginalised communities under the guise of safety only hurts Sydney’s nightlife and destroys whatever public trust is left.”

NSW Police Accused Of Targeting Queers Instead Of Crime

While NSW Police told the media that this more recent “intelligence-led, prevention-focused” operation aimed to reduce “violence, crime, and fear”, some are wondering whether there were more salient risks assailing Sydney that same night more deserving of police attention than “a twink in a K-hole”. 

One such individual, a volunteer for a harm minimisation organisation that operates in Sydney nightlife precincts with “a more heterosexual demographic”, recalled seeing several instances of “rampant antisocial behaviour” met with “minimal police presence”.

“On Saturday along Darling Harbour, I saw on multiple occasions groups of 5+ men approaching young women and intimidating them by standing over and circling them, not allowing them to leave without causing confrontation, making callous jokes about rape and domestic violence, and threatening to punch a woman who rejected their advances,” the volunteer told the Star Observer.

“If NSW Police are wanting to stop antisocial behaviour, why are they harassing the queer community rather than looking at venues and areas that routinely have brawls break out amongst young straight men?”