Jack Beasley foundation gives view on wanding trial as committee reviewing youth justice bill sits on the Gold Coast
The mother of slain teen Jack Beasley wants transport hubs to be included in a random metal detector trial to reduce knife crime.
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THE mother of slain teen Jack Beasley wants transport hubs to be included in a random metal detector trial to reduce knife crime.
The grieving mother also hit back at suggestions the measure without safeguards would be intrusive, saying if they were not carrying knives they would have nothing to worry about.
Belinda Beasley told a committee at Novotel Surfers Paradise on Friday, just 100m from where her son was killed, that the trial should be rolled out at transport hubs as well as safe-night precincts.
“It’s that access (to the Gold Coast through the rail network) and maybe if there was a deterrent, it would stop a lot of these things,” said Mrs Beasley, of the Jack Beasley Foundation.
The state government has proposed using metal detectors to search for knives without a warrant within the Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach safe-night precincts.
The Bulletin on Thursday reported concerns expressed by the state’s top legal bodies – the Queensland Law Society and the Barristers Association of Queensland – who fear the powers will be used arbitrarily.
Mrs Beasley was also asked about her thoughts to whether the trial would be intrusive to young people without safeguards.
“I personally and I’m sure the majority of people, if you are not carrying a knife, you’ve got no worries. You shouldn’t be worried about being wanded.” Mrs Beasley said.
“It’s not going to physically touch you, it’s on the outside. If you’re not carrying anything, or doing anything illegal, you shouldn’t have a worry. And if you’re not being suspicious they’re not going to be wanting to search you.”
Jack Beasley, 17, died after a confrontation in the middle of Surfers Paradise on December 13, 2019.
Five teens aged from 15 to 18 have been charged with murder and will appear in Southport Magistrates Court next week.
Earlier on Friday, experienced Gold Coast lawyer Bill Potts, director of Potts Lawyers, told the committee that as a safeguard senior officers should supervise the wanding.
CONCERNS OVER WANDING TRIAL
THE state’s top two legal bodies say proposed laws giving police powers to scan revellers for weapons at random could lead to discrimination and impinge on basic privacy rights.
The Queensland Law Society and The Bar Association of Queensland say the changes could result in “arbitrary” searches in the popular tourist strip. Under the trial, announced as part of a suite of measures targeting youth crime, police officers would be able to conduct searches without a warrant in the Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach safe-night precincts.
It was announced after a spate of stabbing deaths on the Glitter Strip, including 17-year-old Jack Beasley in December 2019.
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 association is opposed to the arbitrary use of police search powers on people without the requirement for any degree of suspicion of wrongdoing,” said Bar Association of Queensland president Tom Sullivan QC in a submission to a committee reviewing the proposed changes to the Youth Justice Act.
“Such a search power impinges on the basic right to privacy enshrined in … the Human Rights Act 2019. Given the proposed locations to which these new powers will apply, the association also submits that they are at risk of being discriminatory against young people given the greater propensity of young people to visit those locations.”
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The Queensland Law Society (QLS) said in a submission that it had concerns “about the extended powers to use scanners” along with the “power to require the production of objects which may contain metal, without a warrant”.
Under the legislation a senior officer – a rank of senior sergeant or inspector – must authorise the use of the handheld scanner, but “the legislation does not provide for any criteria to guide decision-making about such authorisation”, the submission said.
“Committee members raised concerns that there does not appear to be any requirement that an authorising officer holds a ‘reasonable suspicion’ before engaging these powers,” president Elizabeth Shearer wrote.
“This raises the risk that the power will be exercised arbitrarily.”
The legal body recommended there be “clear, prescribed criteria that dictate the circumstances in which the powers may be authorised”.
“QLS recommends that the proposed amendments … be amended to ensure these powers are not engaged unless an authorising officer holds a ‘reasonable suspicion’ that the person has a knife or dangerous weapon,” Ms Shearer wrote.
“This will mitigate the risk that these powers will be exercised arbitrarily and discriminatorily.”
In February, Police Minister Mark Ryan said the proposed law changes were about “preventing crime before it happens”.
At the time, when announcing details of the trial, Assistant Commissioner Mark Wheeler said it was hoped the powers would deter people from carrying knives.
“What I would say is we have to be responsible with this power; this isn’t just a power that we will use ad hoc because we think it’s great,” Asst Commissioner Wheeler said.
“This will be very specific, it’ll be targeted. But where we have any doubts about someone, we will have that authority to conduct those searches.”
Originally published as Jack Beasley foundation gives view on wanding trial as committee reviewing youth justice bill sits on the Gold Coast
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