Sniffer dog protest - Newtown, Sydney

They are a massive intrusion on the rights of people the police choose to target with their dogs.

Being sniffed by a dog in a police operation in a pub, on a train or at a footy match is insulting, intimidating and plain unnecessary.

When the police sniffer dog squads maraud around our communities their actions have nothing to do with making our streets safer.

These operations are all about delivering for the NSW Labor government on the law and order stance. The pathetic coalition, which still fails to understand what it means to be in opposition, is backing the Premier all the way on this one.

The Police Powers Drug Detection Dogs Act was passed in 2001 with the loyal opposition and all bar six cross benchers voting in favour.

In 2002 on behalf of the Greens I moved to block the government's regulation to allow sniffer dog searches on public transport and at stations.

Again after an ugly debate the NSW Parliament agreed to this piece of madness. And at what cost. The personal cost is enormous but there is also the financial cost to the state.

This is one of those occasions where a bit of economic rationalism could prove quite interesting.

After questioning in the Parliament the Greens have ascertained that each dog costs $90,000 to train and who knows how much is spent on ongoing up keep. And then each dog has its own handler and every time there is one of these futile operations 12 or more officers are involved.

And what do they find? A few joints, some tabs of ecstasy a few pills. So what. Big drug dealers don't catch trains or walk the streets with their huge drug caches.

Sniffer dog operations do not reduce drug consumption, the sale of drugs or make our communities safe.

But people are being harassed, a few users and small time dealers might get picked up and a huge amount of police resources, that is taxpayers' money, is being wasted.

I have pursued successive police ministers about this madness but we are yet to hear about any benefits of sniffer dogs apart from the usual spin.

When I have searched the web I couldn't find any glowing endorsements of this style of policing but what I did find was details about how in California the AG's office declared dog searches of student's bags was unconstitutional and the schools stopped the practice.

And then in England the police commander in Brixton banned sniffer dog operations.

My office will continue to campaign for the end of sniffer dog operations.

We are keen to hear from you about any harassment you or your friends have suffered by the sniffer cop dog squads.

One of the most disturbing stories we have heard is about a man at the Blue Mountains Magic Festival who was carrying his daughter on his shoulders. When approached by a dog he pushed it away with his foot only to be charged with cruelty to animals.

Sniffer dog operations are adding further strain to relations between the police and the public.

It is pretty hard to respect the law when police are given the right to use dogs to search you.

Police sniffer dog operations invade our civil liberties and waste public money.

It's great to join tonight's protest. The Greens are committed to fighting for the removal of sniffer dogs. We can win on this one but we will have to be very noisy.

They are a massive intrusion on the rights of people the police choose to target with their dogs.

Being sniffed by a dog in a police operation in a pub, on a train or at a footy match is insulting, intimidating and plain unnecessary.

When the police sniffer dog squads maraud around our communities their actions have nothing to do with making our streets safer.

These operations are all about delivering for the NSW Labor government on the law and order stance. The pathetic coalition, which still fails to understand what it means to be in opposition, is backing the Premier all the way on this one.

The Police Powers Drug Detection Dogs Act was passed in 2001 with the loyal opposition and all bar six cross benchers voting in favour.

In 2002 on behalf of the Greens I moved to block the government's regulation to allow sniffer dog searches on public transport and at stations.

Again after an ugly debate the NSW Parliament agreed to this piece of madness. And at what cost. The personal cost is enormous but there is also the financial cost to the state.

This is one of those occasions where a bit of economic rationalism could prove quite interesting.

After questioning in the Parliament the Greens have ascertained that each dog costs $90,000 to train and who knows how much is spent on ongoing up keep. And then each dog has its own handler and every time there is one of these futile operations 12 or more officers are involved.

And what do they find? A few joints, some tabs of ecstasy a few pills. So what. Big drug dealers don't catch trains or walk the streets with their huge drug caches.

Sniffer dog operations do not reduce drug consumption, the sale of drugs or make our communities safe.

But people are being harassed, a few users and small time dealers might get picked up and a huge amount of police resources, that is taxpayers' money, is being wasted.

I have pursued successive police ministers about this madness but we are yet to hear about any benefits of sniffer dogs apart from the usual spin.

When I have searched the web I couldn't find any glowing endorsements of this style of policing but what I did find was details about how in California the AG's office declared dog searches of student's bags was unconstitutional and the schools stopped the practice.

And then in England the police commander in Brixton banned sniffer dog operations.

My office will continue to campaign for the end of sniffer dog operations.

We are keen to hear from you about any harassment you or your friends have suffered by the sniffer cop dog squads.

One of the most disturbing stories we have heard is about a man at the Blue Mountains Magic Festival who was carrying his daughter on his shoulders. When approached by a dog he pushed it away with his foot only to be charged with cruelty to animals.

Sniffer dog operations are adding further strain to relations between the police and the public.

It is pretty hard to respect the law when police are given the right to use dogs to search you.

Police sniffer dog operations invade our civil liberties and waste public money.

It's great to join tonight's protest. The Greens are committed to fighting for the removal of sniffer dogs. We can win on this one but we will have to be very noisy.