THE use of sniffer dogs by police to search people in pubs and clubs, on public transport and at festivals should be ended, the Greens candidate for the seat of Newtown, Jenny Leong said.

At a community meeting held in Redfern on Monday night, Ms Leong said if she was elected she would introduce a bill in the NSW Parliament to end the General Police Drug Dog Program in NSW.

Last year in Redfern, there were 1000 sniffer dog searches and people were 6.5 times more likely to be searched at Redfern than at Central, Ms Leong said.

media_camera Jenny Leong is the Greens candidate for the state seat of Newtown.

“The NSW police have better things to do than interfere with the freedom of people to go about their business,” she said.

“The General Police Drug Dog Program in NSW is nothing more than state sanctioned harassment and intimidation on public transport, in our pubs and clubs, and at festivals.”

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Redfern also had the highest false positive rate for sniffer dog indications of any local area command, Ms Leong said.

“We need to see evidence-based policing in NSW that is focused on serving and protecting the needs of the community, not an enforcement agency which contributes to the intimidation, mistrust and discrimination already faced by marginalised groups,” she said.

media_camera Police use a sniffer dog at a train station.

Ms Leong is a former human rights campaigner with Amnesty International and said she was acutely aware of the how governments use police powers to implement regressive agendas and violate the rights of their citizens.

“The impact of the intimidation and harassment of the General Police Drug Dog Program in NSW has broader implications for our society and our ability to live as a community where no matter what your gender, gender identity, age, race, or religion, you have the right to feel safe and be free from harassment by police,” she said.