Credit: James Alcock Lanyon said both strip-searching and drug sniffer dogs were “valid tools” used by police at music festivals. “A lot of focus is on drugs and people possessing drugs, but one of the main reasons we strip-search is for weapons,” he said. Lanyon said the police would work closely with NSW Health and ensure drug detection dogs don’t interfere with the drug checking service. The figure awarded to Meredith included $43,000 in compensatory damages for assault, battery and false imprisonment, and $50,000 in aggravated damages. Yehia said Meredith was also entitled to exemplary damages, a form of punitive damages, but this figure has not yet been quantified.