Detective Superintendent Brendan Smith has seen a lot in his 40 years as a police officer, but there is one behaviour he is desperate to stamp out — the number of people carrying knives.
"I'm at my wits end," the veteran officer said.
"How many people have to die? How many families need to be wrecked because of the behaviours of a few?"
Superintendent Smith revealed on Sunday there had been a sharp rise in the rate of knife crime.
"We've had a 21 per cent increase in the last financial year of people between the ages of 10 and 21 with action taken against them for carrying knives," he said.
Superintendent Smith said there were 11 knife-related murders in the past financial year and 3,000 offences for possessing a knife in a public place.
On Friday, a 20-year-old Aiden Rhys Bower-Miles was fatally stabbed in the Logan suburb of Underwood.
Two teenagers, 15 and 16, have been charged with murder.
Superintendent Smith implored parents to have a conversation with their children.
"It's going to be too late when their son or daughter is dead or sitting in jail," he said.
"Carrying a knife is totally unacceptable and unlawful. They think it's cool. It's not cool.
"Let's do something about it as a community."
A string of stabbings in Surfers Paradise sparked a year-long trial on the Gold Coast, allowing police to use handheld metal detectors to find knives and other weapons.
It resulted in 336 arrests and 467 charges.
It also prompted the introduction of "Jack's Law", which allows the trial of police search powers to be extended across all of Queensland's safe night precincts and on public transport.
Jack's Law is named after Jack Beasley, 17, who was stabbed to death on the Gold Coast in 2019.
Opposition Leader David Crisafulli stopped short of calling for knives to be kept under lock and key in retail stores.
"I'm always open minded to any proposal. We will reflect and listen to the science that's put forward," he said.
"One way or another we can't have a modern Queensland where knives are carried almost as a fashion accessory.
"There is blood being spilled on the streets far too often."
Police Minister Mark Ryan said the state government was taking knife crime "very seriously".
"Even one instance of knife crime is unacceptable which is why we've got the strategies in place," he said.
He pointed to the "I live my life without a knife" campaign, but also echoed calls for parents to talk with their children.
"Often we find young people with knives they've taken it from the family home, they've taken it from the kitchen drawer," he said.
"We need families to be talking about knives."
