Police will have extraordinary powers to randomly stop and search people for knives and other weapons on public transport and in nightclub precincts across Queensland under new laws passed by parliament.
The legislation allows Queensland police to use hand-held metal detectors to search people without reasonable suspicion in all Safe Night Precincts, at public transport stations and on public transport vehicles for a two-year period.
The new laws are an expansion of a trial on the Gold Coast in 2021 to detect unlawful weapons in a bid to reduce knife-crime and serious violent offending in Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach nightclub precincts.
A catalyst for the trial were the murders of 17-year-old Jack Beasley, who was fatally stabbed outside a Surfers Paradise convenience store in 2019, and 27-year-old Raymond Harris, who was fatally stabbed after an alleged altercation on Cavill Avenue in 2020.
The legislation, known as Jack's Law, was named in honour of Mr Beasley and remembers both victims.
Acting Deputy Commissioner Mark Wheeler said police acknowledged the laws were "incredibly robust" and were intended to deter people from carrying weapons to harm others.
"This is probably one of the strongest powers the Queensland police service has ever been given, in that in an operation we are able to scan a person without any suspicion," he said.
"We acknowledge the incredible power we've been given and we want to use it judicially."
Trigger points
Acting Deputy Commissioner Wheeler said a number of safeguards had been put in place including that a senior officer must approve a scanning operation before it can be carried out, it can only run for 12 hours and a certain crime must have been committed in the area in the past six months.
"There are some trigger points … for instance any offence involving a knife or a weapon, a serious offence against a person like grievous bodily harm or assault occasioning bodily harm or where someone has been charged with possessing a knife or a weapon in a public place," he said.
"That senior officer needs to then needs to be reasonably satisfied that running an operation will be effective and also thinking about the impact on the area.
"The searches themselves are conducted whilst body worn cameras are activated … so it's captured on camera both body worn and CCTV.
"We also have reporting obligations, we have to do an annual report every year … in terms of what's been found and how many people are being scanned."
A review by the Griffith Criminology Institute on the Gold Coast trial found 68 bladed articles were seized in 12 months and resulted in 53 weapons offences and 101 other offences being laid.
Of those weapons confiscated, eight were household knives, 59 were other types of knives and one was an axe.
Police also seized a replica handgun, one baton, two hand tools, five knuckle dusters, one screwdriver and one other tool.
The review of the trial also noted the scanning had been inconsistently used across different groups and there was "some" evidence of "inappropriate use of stereotypes and cultural assumptions by a small number of officers".
Laws to be enacted for Jack's birthday
The bill is expected to be given royal assent by Queensland Governor Dr Jeannette Young on Sunday meaning the police powers would be officially effective then.
The parents of Jack – Brett and Belinda Beasley – were in state parliament for two days to watch the laws be debated and passed.
Mr Beasley said the enacting of the laws on Sunday coincided with what would have been Jack's 21st birthday.
"It's going to be a hard time on Sunday, but we're proud and we're happy … to get it through before Jack's birthday," he said.
Ms Beasley said it was a law they would like to see rolled out across Australia.
"It's a law that's for a lot of other kids that have lost their lives to knife crime," she said.
"Hopefully this is going to make the community a lot safer and our kids can come home safe after going on a night out and on public transport so I think it's really important."
After Jack's death the couple campaigned for the trial on Gold Coast and set up the Jack Beasley Foundation to deliver presentations in Queensland schools about the dangers of knife violence.
Police Minister Mark Ryan said police would likely begin their first operation in Brisbane's Fortitude Valley from next Friday and over the weekend.
"If you're going to be in the Valley next week be prepared that the police will have the wanding powers and the wands ready to go," he said.
"This is about making sure people don't carry knives, it's dangerous and it can have tragic consequences."
