The NSW State Government has proposed new powers for the police to search people for weapons with a metal-detecting wand without a warrant. This comes after months of violent knife crime that bewildered the state and country.

The new reforms will be modeled after Queensland’s ‘Jack’s Law’, which came into the Queensland legislature after the death of 17-year-old Jack Beasley on the Gold Coast in 2019. However, the law will be adapted to NSW, as Minister of Police and Counter-Terrorism Yasmin Catley said “We’ll be looking at how these strategies work in a NSW context. Strategies that we know are making a difference in Queensland.”

But some in the community are skeptical of the government’s reforms, noting there may be an infringement of human rights. While others say the proposed laws do not go the extra mile in combating violent knife crime.

Image: Image: Shutterstock – SpeedKingz

Produced By: Jhames Montemayor

Featured In Story: Paul Toole – NSW Shadow Minister for Police, Sue Higginson – NSW Greens Legislative Member , and David Heilpern – Former NSW Magistrate and Dean of Law at Southern Cross University

First aired on The Wire, Wednesday 8 May 2024