Youth justice crackdown: Cops won’t need warrants to search for knives if wand detection device not accepted

Police will be empowered to search people for knives without a warrant if they refuse to comply with wand detection devices, under the Palaszczuk Government’s youth crime crackdown.

Police will be empowered to search people for knives without a warrant if they refuse to comply with wand detection devices, under the Palaszczuk Government’s youth crime crackdown.

Following weeks of community pressure, the government introduced its new youth justice reforms to parliament yesterday – which will give courts the power to deploy GPS trackers on young offenders while on bail.

Corrective officers will be able to remotely monitor the child under the reforms, but may need to contact the youth offender via mobile phone to remind them to charge the batteries on their devices.

Police in the Broadbeach and Surfers Paradise safe night precincts on the Gold Coast will be armed with metal detecting wands in a bid to combat knife crimes as part of a 12 month trial.

The new laws will mean anyone who refuses to be scanned by the wands can be subject to a police search without the need for a warrant.

Police will be empowered to search people for knives without a warrant if they refuse to comply with wand detection devices.

Police can already undertake searches for a knife without a warrant if they have a reasonable suspicion that someone is carrying one.

Police Minister Mark Ryan said in the past two years, police had seen an increase in the amount of people charged with unlawfully possessing a knife in a public place.

“The Queensland Police Service advise youths as young as ten years of age (who) come to the attention of police are found in possession of a knife,” he said.

“And this behaviour peaks in the 15 to 16-year-old age cohort.

“We know there is a tendency for some young people to carry knives in public spaces. This places the community and the youths themselves at risk of serious harm or death.”

Under the laws, courts will be able to deploy GPS tracking devices as a condition of bail on 16 and 17-year-olds who have committed a “prescribed indictable offence” and have previously been found guilty of an indictable offence.

The trackers will be used during a 12 month trial in certain regions of the state before being subject to a government evaluation.

Minister for Police and Corrective Services Mark Ryan. Photographer: Liam Kidston.

The indictable offences include those that attract a life sentence, choking or strangulation in a domestic setting, dangerous operation of a vehicle, and unlawful use of a motor vehicle.

A presumption against bail will also be created for young offenders charged with certain offences.

LNP police spokesman Dale Last said he wouldn’t stand in the way of what Labor was proposing, but claimed it didn’t go far enough.

“What we saw today is what I would term a poor man’s version of breach of bail,” he said.

“We’re talking about corrective services officers sending text messages to juvenile offenders.

“At the end of the day we’re talking about a young offender who might steal a motor vehicle today and continue on their merry way breaching their bail conditions and it’s not until they steal a second motor vehicle that they actually front court.”

WHAT THE LAWS WILL DO

- Allow the courts to deploy GPS trackers on certain 16 and 17-year-old offenders as a condition of bail in a 12 month trial

- Create a presumption against bail for young offenders charged with certain offences

- Arm police with metal detecting wands on the Gold Coast to combat knife crime as part of a trial

- Enshrine in legislation that breaching bail is an aggravating factor when sentencing