Why are police raiding Oxford Street clubs?
The moment I saw the photo I knew it would go viral. The two uniformed police officers and search dogs who attacked Sydney’s flagship gay club Universal last Saturday night were also there. They were picking people off the dance floor to be taken to the bathroom to be questioned, undressed and searched. The revelers watched in fear, confusion and distress.
I posted the photo (a still from a video taken by a friend at the club) and asked if others had such stories of recent police nightclub raids. Within two hours, I received six screens worth of direct messages, each detailing police assaults or harassment on the dance floor.
I’ve spent this week chatting to club goers, DJs, promoters, nightclub staff and venue owners. Everyone spoke off the record for fear of retaliation. What I discovered shocked me and convinced me that NSW Police urgently needed to change the way it allocated its resources.
It had to change anyway. The force’s new “stand down” policy marked a departure from the terrifying wall of police and dogs that greeted people at the entrance to every NSW festival. Many hoped this would lead to a reduction in random raids on nightclubs.
Not so. From 2022 until last year, there was an annual police dog raid on Universal. There have been nine in the last 12 months.
What happened last Saturday reveals the extent of the problem. One participant told me: “I’m not a drug user; I got pulled over for search dogs. I’m a feminine little guy. The officer twice my size said: ‘Are you going to stand there or are you going to move?'”
‘If you don’t like it, move to Melbourne.’
A customer at Club 77 said that’s what a police officer told him when he asked if a raid by a dozen cops and a dog would be justified.
Transvestite Victoria Mami was checking ID at the door of Universal. When a dog surrounded him, the police pushed him against the wall and asked him to take off his gloves, shoes, leg warmers and belt. They found nothing, then left his drift artifacts strewn across the street. This left her feeling “confused, nervous, uneasy and violated.”
Half the queue and many people in the club were evacuated, saying the frightening pressure had destroyed the cheerful atmosphere of the place. It disrupted the business of the club, which was usually busy that night; The dance floor was empty and I was told that on a normal Saturday, earnings were down 70 percent.
expensive and often ineffective police dog operations are reclaiming resources spent on reviving struggling Oxford Street and Sydney’s post-lockout and lockdown night economy. The raids not only target the gay community but also damage the wider nightclub scene and its reputation. Police also raid plain places. Cliff Dive and Noir, both on Oxford Street, were also targeted last Saturday night. Every queer venue I know of and the various straight venues on the strip have been raided multiple times in the past year.
Inside the clubs, police chase people and corner them. People who were wanted told me that officers urged them to plead guilty when a search dog approached them. But raiders often couldn’t find drugs on them.
The police said that they launched an operation on Saturday night to increase the security of the community and that 42 drugs were detected in 93 people searched. If so, I can only say that none of the people I spoke to were ever found, accused or witnessed to be carrying drugs.
Member for Sydney Alex Greenwich and Sydney Mayor Clover Moore called on the Policing Commission to order an investigation into the raids.
Some people might say, if you’re not doing anything illegal, why complain? But the raids make my LGBTQ community feel unsafe in a city with a history of entrapment in state-sponsored male urinals, subsequent arrests for obscene behavior, and police terrorizing 78ers at the first Mardi Gras 48 years ago.
A ’78 reported this week that eight uniformed officers raided Kinselas this month. How many cops were sent to Bondi’s Hanukkah festival on Sunday, December 14? Fly.
Yes, three under-equipped general duty officers and a chief. The two inspectors who were asked to attend were told that there was no need for them to stay for the duration of the event. But leaders of the Jewish community still demanded more police protection. Police did not carry out any terrorism risk assessment for that festival, despite a security group warning them about the possibility of an attack a week in advance. Of course it happened and 15 people were shot dead.
Meanwhile, the police devote scarce resources to raids on nightclubs. A witness told me that during a recent raid on co-ed techno Club 77, only 10 people remained on the dance floor, but police made no arrests. He had asked one of the raiding party whether it was justified to bring a dozen police officers and a dog to a small club in Sydney. The officer replied: “If you don’t like it, move to Melbourne.”
The fact that these raids took place during Pride Month is an insult to the brave 78ers who marched for my freedom today. Gay venues are much more than nightclubs; they are our shelters, community centers, and mental health restoration centers; all under the unifying disco ball.
It was the legal drug alcohol that led to deadly booze-fueled one-two punches outside Sydney’s heterosexual clubs. A bandit killed Thomas Kelly in an unprovoked beer-fuelled attack. Kelly’s distraught younger brother later died by suicide. You don’t see this kind of toxic violence in our gay clubs. You see wide-eyed, loved-up, ecstatically happy gays dancing around their man bags to Madonna. Then the police come in like we’re harboring biker gangs. They approach us with suspicion and disdain.
Taxpayers fund these operations. Alex Greenwich now I’m asking people share such experiences with him. There will be many.
Gary Nunn is a regular contributor. On Instagram: @garynunn11
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Gary Nunn contributes to The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect with: X or email.
