Gold Coast crime: Police out in force in Southport to combat youths trying to avoid ‘wanding’ trial

Knife-carrying teens have changed their behaviour in an effort to avoid the new “wanding” trial underway in Glitter Strip party precincts, prompting a major police response. HERE'S WHAT THEY'RE DOING

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KNIFE-carrying teens have switched their attention to Southport to avoid the new “wanding” trial underway in Glitter Strip party precincts, police say.

Juveniles previously bound for Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach are congregating in the CBD, and are exiting trams in the suburb, before walking up to the safe-night precincts to avoid police scrutiny at light rail stations, Inspector Scott Knowles said.

Police arrest a 16-year-old boy at Surfers Paradise in May after he was allegedly located with weapons and drugs. Picture: Queensland Police Service.

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The metal detector “wanding” trial – which gives police powers to scan people at random during certain times – got underway in Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach in May to reduce knife crime on the Gold Coast.

It was established after a spate of stabbing deaths on the Glitter Strip, including 17-year-old Jack Beasley in December 2019.

The new wand. Picture: Tertius Pickard

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Insp Knowles said police in Southport noticed an increase of young people with weapons weeks after the trial began, prompting increases in foot and bike patrols around the CBD.

“What we are finding is a definite displacement of some of the young people from the Surfers Paradise, Broadbeach safe-night precincts where wanding is being conducted up towards Southport,” Insp Knowles said.

“That brings with it some of the issues that the young people bring with them, in terms of substance abuse (through chroming) … but we’re also detecting greater numbers of weapons on our young people.”

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He said some youths were getting off at earlier light rail stops in Southport to avoid detection.

“The wanding trial (in the party precincts) … means there’s a higher chance that as they get off at transport nodes that they will be wanded and weapons or any other illicit items that they’ve got have a higher chance of being detected,” he said.

Inspector Scott Knowles says police have been out in force to combat youths with weapons gathering in Southport.

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Some of the weapons found include screwdrivers, knives and “replica firearms”.Gold Coast City Council initially reported an increase in complaints about the issue.

Police also started to see the issue through council cameras, and patrols through the area.

Police have also put resources on the light rail, and at the transit point with heavy rail, to engage with young people before they get on the tram.

Southport councillor Brooke Patterson said complaints had dwindled after a fast police response.

“There was initially a shift which the police got on to very fast,” she told the Bulletin.

Insp Knowles said in the long run it would be beneficial to roll out wanding in other areas but the results of the trial needed to be evaluated.

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THE “wanding” trial to crackdown on Gold Coast knife crime could have an “intrusive” impact on the devout Sikhs who carry a kirpan, the state government says.

Police Minister Mark Ryan has also said the new police powers under the trial “would limit a number of human rights”, but the need to protect the community from knife crime outweighed the impacts.

The use of hand-held scanners would be used without a warrant throughout Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach safe-night precincts as part of a 12-month trial to reduce knife crime.

In a statement of compatibility with Queensland’s Human Rights Act, Mr Ryan said the trial could impact religious and cultural rights.

“Knives are an important religious symbol for some faiths,” he wrote. “For example, baptised Sikhs are required to carry a kirpan, which is generally a small-blunted object resembling a dagger. The proposal may have a particularly intrusive impact on devout Sikhs.”

He noted people were able to carry knives for “genuine religious purposes” and police would take that into account when considering whether to charge a person with an offence after using a hand-held scanner.

The new wand. Picture: Tertius Pickard

The state’s top legal bodies are worried about trial, saying the laws could lead to discrimination and impinge on basic privacy rights.

Mr Ryan conceded the scanners “would limit a number of human rights, and in particular the right to equality before the law, freedom of movement and the right to privacy”.

He said one impact was that police could “arbitrarily stop and scan a person, in the absence of any reason, provided only that a senior police officer has provided authorisation”.

Police Minister Mark Ryan with the new wands that will be trialled on the Gold Coast. Picture: Tertius Pickard

Mr Ryan wrote that the powers were designed to be exercised non-intrusively and for the shortest period possible, with no power to request the person’s name.

Less “restrictive” alternatives to the laws “would not be as effective in achieving” the trials purpose of reducing knife crime, he said.

Mr Ryan said the law changes around wanding might “not be compatible” with human rights as the power to stop and scan someone in the party precinct, as well as the power of a senior officer authorising the use of scanners “was not based on any criteria”.

An example of a Kirpan, a type of religious dagger, worn at all times by Baptised Sikhs.

“However, the government has determined that the need to uncover knives in safe-night precincts outweighs the impacts on the human rights of people stopped and scanned by police,” Mr Ryan wrote.

The trial was announced this year as part of a suite of measures targeting youth crime and comes after a spate of stabbing deaths on the Gold Coast, including 17-year-old Jack Beasley in December 2019.

When asked about the issues raised about the laws last month in front of a committee, Jack’s mother, Belinda Beasley, said: “If you’re not carrying anything, or doing anything illegal, you shouldn’t have a worry.”

Harrison Geppert, 17, (September 2019), Nicholas Braid, 35, (April 2020), Cian English, 19, (May 2020) and Raymond Harris, 27, (September 2020) all died in incidents involving knives.

The Bill is expected to be put to parliament next week.

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