South Australian Current Acts

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SUMMARY OFFENCES ACT 1953 - SECT 72B

72B—Special powers to prevent serious violence

        (1)         A police officer may, for the purpose of locating weapons and other articles in an area to which this section applies, carry out a search in relation to—

            (a)         any person who is in, or is apparently attempting to enter or to leave the area; and

            (b)         any property in the possession of such a person.

        (2)         This section applies to an area in relation to which the exercise of powers under this section is authorised in accordance with subsection (3).

        (3)         A police officer of or above the rank of Superintendent may authorise the exercise of powers under this section in relation to an area if he or she has reasonable grounds to believe—

            (a)         that an incident of serious violence involving a group or groups of people may take place in the area; and

            (b)         such powers are necessary to prevent the incident.

        (4)         An authorisation granted under subsection (3)—

            (a)         must be granted in accordance with guidelines (if any) issued by the Commissioner; and

            (b)         must specify the area to which the authorisation relates (which must not be larger than is reasonably necessary for the purposes of the authorisation); and

            (c)         must specify the grounds for granting the authorisation; and

            (d)         must specify a period of not more than 24 hours during which the authorisation operates (the "authorisation period"); and

            (e)         may be subject to conditions specified by the police officer granting the authorisation.

        (5)         An authorisation granted under subsection (3) may be varied or revoked by a police officer of or above the rank of Superintendent at any time.

        (6)         An authorisation granted under subsection (3) or a variation or revocation of such an authorisation must be by instrument in writing unless the police officer granting, varying or revoking the authorisation is satisfied that circumstances of urgency exist in which case the authorisation, variation or revocation may be oral, provided that it is reduced to writing as soon as reasonably practicable.

        (7)         If—

            (a)         it is proposed to grant an authorisation in relation to an area; and

            (b)         a previous authorisation has been granted in relation to that area or a part of that area,

the authorisation period specified in the proposed authorisation must not commence within 48 hours of the end of the authorisation period specified in the previous authorisation, unless the consent of the Commissioner has been obtained in accordance with subsection (8).

        (8)         The Commissioner may, by instrument in writing, give consent to the granting of an authorisation of a kind specified in subsection (7) if the Commissioner is satisfied that it is in the public interest to do so.

        (9)         The following information must be included in the annual report of the Commissioner under section 75 of the Police Act 1998 (other than in the year in which this section comes into operation) in respect of the period to which the report relates (the "relevant period ):

            (a)         the number of authorisations granted under subsection (3) during the relevant period; and

            (b)         in relation to each authorisation granted during the relevant period (identified by location and date)—

                  (i)         the nature of the incident in relation to which the authorisation was granted; and

                  (ii)         the number of people searched in the exercise of powers under this section; and

                  (iii)         whether weapons or articles of a kind referred to in Part 3A were detected in the course of the exercise of powers under this section; and

                  (iv)         the types of weapons or articles so detected;

            (c)         the number of occasions on which the Commissioner gave consent under subsection (8) during the relevant period;

            (d)         any other information requested by the Minister.



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