Western Australian Consolidated Acts Western Australian Consolidated Acts (1) If an authorised
officer has reasonable grounds to suspect that —
(a) an
offence against this Act has been, is being, or is about to be committed; and
(b)
there is in or on any premises, vehicle or vessel anything relevant to the
investigation of that offence,
the authorised officer
may exercise the powers set out in subsection (2) in respect of the
premises, vehicle or vessel.
(2) The authorised
officer may —
(a)
signal or direct the person in control of the vehicle or vessel —
(i)
to stop the vehicle or vessel;
(ii)
to move the vehicle or vessel to a place specified by the
officer;
(iii)
not to move the vehicle or vessel;
(b)
enter and search the premises, vehicle or vessel using such force as is
necessary to gain entry;
(c)
break open and search any package, container or other thing in or on the
premises, vehicle or vessel;
(d)
search all persons found in or on the premises, vehicle or vessel;
(e) take
and remove a sample of anything in or on the premises, vehicle or vessel;
(f)
seize anything reasonably suspected of being relevant to the investigation of
an offence against this Act.
(3) An authorised
officer must not exercise the powers referred to in subsection (2) in
respect of any premises, or any part of any premises, used as a residence
except —
(a) with
the consent of the occupier of the premises; or
(b)
under a warrant issued under section 55A.
(4) A person must not
be searched under this section except by a person of the same sex as the
first-mentioned person.
[Section 55 inserted by No. 48 of 1995
s. 31.]