The Victorian premier has made another policy backflip, announcing a re-elected Labor government would give police and protective services officers the power to stop and search people for knives using handheld metal detectors – despite experts warning of a lack of evidence that the measure reduces violent crime.
Ben Carroll on Wednesday announced he would match a commitment made by the Coalition opposition last year to introduce Queensland’s Jack’s Law, named after 17-year-old Jack Beasley, who was fatally stabbed in Surfers Paradise in 2019.
