Police stop and search 63 people at Toowoomba shopping centres

Empowered by Jack’s Law, police are rolling out wanding operations across Toowoomba as they clamp down on knife crime. Watch the video here.

In a positive sign for shoppers, a police blitz of Toowoomba shopping centres was not able to locate any knives, despite running handheld metal detectors over 63 people.

The three wanding operations were conducted at shopping centres across the city from September 23-27.

They were aimed at disrupting anti-social behaviour and educate shoppers and retail staff about the expanded crime prevention policies under Jack’s Law

Police are now able to use a metal detector wand to scan for weapons in authorised locations, to remove dangerous weapons from public spaces to reduce knife crime.

Those locations include shopping centres, sporting venues, public transport and Safe Night Precincts, like the Toowoomba CBD.

Since Jack’s Law came into effect in April last year, police have seized 729 weapons during more than 8000 wanding operations.

Acting Inspector Paula Smithard said police received an overwhelmingly positive response during the operations.

“The community and store owners were very supportive of the wanding operations and the impact it will have in helping deter weapon offences in high-traffic public spaces like shopping centres,” she said.

“The operation was a success in spreading the word about Jack’s Law, the devastation carrying a weapon can cause and reminding shop-goers to expect police in new locations conducting wanding to remove weapons off our streets.

“We look forward to continuing wanding operations in line with new legislation to help keep our communities safe.”