The NSW Government is today announcing a package of common-sense reforms to target possession of knives, particularly among young people, reduce knife crime and boost community safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The government will:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The package of reforms will help address knife-related crime, get knives off streets and keep the community safer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The new \u201cwanding\u201d laws will be based on Jack\u2019s Law and adapted for the NSW context with details being finalised ahead of legislation to be introduced to parliament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Their aim will be to keep the community safe, targeting areas where there have been increasing issues related to knife crime or knife possession offences, which could be on public transport or in nightlife, entertainment, or shopping precincts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The reforms build upon responsible action taken by the NSW Government including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The reforms send a strong message about the seriousness of knife related violence and the NSW Government\u2019s commitment to take immediate proactive steps to prevent future tragedies, while also addressing longer term challenges such as serious mental health issues and the broader incidence of violent crime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Premier Chris Minns said:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn recent weeks and months, we have all borne witness to the devastating outcomes of knife related violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI know that many in our community have followed the devastating media coverage and heard the stories of victims and families \u2013 tragically there have been so many recent examples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur communities are still in mourning, but it\u2019s essential that we step up to take immediate action to send a clear message that NSW will simply not accept these kinds of crimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cToday we are announcing reform including legislation modelled on new powers for police to search and detect knives in public spaces, based on Queensland\u2019s Jack\u2019s Law, and a common-sense increase to the age limit for purchasing knives from 16 to 18 to make it harder for children to get access to these deadly weapons.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Minister for the Police and Counter-terrorism Yasmin Catley said:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis sends a strong signal that we are committed to tackling violent knife crime in our community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThese reforms send a strong warning to would-be perpetrators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI want to thank Mr and Mrs Beasley and our colleagues in the Queensland Government for working with us to share their experiences and their knowledge in regard to Jack\u2019s Law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo parent should go through what the Beasleys and many other families have gone through. No life should be cut short by violent crime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019ll be looking at how these strategies work in a NSW context. Strategies that we know are making a difference in Queensland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThese reforms will give police improved tools to quickly detect concealed knives and take action before a potential perpetrator has the chance to use them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThese reforms are about keeping people safe. I want the community to have the confidence that this government is committed to giving the NSW Police Force all the tools required to combat violent crime.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Attorney General Michael Daley said:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThese changes increase police powers, toughen penalties and send a clear signal that it is not okay to carry a knife.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere are too many young people who think it is okay to put a knife into their pocket to carry out their daily business. The worrying thing is that, if they are open to carrying it, then they are probably open to using it. We want people to stop carrying knives, to leave them at home and to stop using them.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The NSW Government is today announcing a package of common-sense reforms to target possession of knives, particularly among young people, reduce knife crime and boost community safety. The government will: Develop legislation modelled on Queensland\u2019s Jack\u2019s Law which will give police powers to \u201cwand\u201d or \u201cscan\u201d people for knives without a warrant in designated areas, … Continue reading “New measures to get knives off the street and boost community safety”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorised"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26482","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26482"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26482\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26483,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26482\/revisions\/26483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}