Police have seized more than 600 weapons in public scans of 82,648 people in the six months since Jack’s Law was introduced by the Queensland Government.
Jack’s Law allows police to use hand-held metal detectors to scan for weapons, with expanded powers enabling officers to conduct wanding in all public places.
In total 1280 arrests have been made, and 2424 charges laid, according to Queensland Minister for Police and Emergency Services Dan Purdie. The law was named in honour of 17 year-old Jack Beasley who was killed in a knife attack at Surfers Paradise in 2019.
In the same six-month period a year earlier (when the laws were restricted and temporary), police removed 255 weapons and scanned 28,336 people.
Jack Beasley’s father Brett said in a statement that the results reinforced the importance of the law.
“Every weapon seized is a potential life saved, and that’s how we honour Jack Beasley’s legacy,” Mr Beasley said.
“We’ll never know whose life was protected, but we do know these laws are stopping violence before it happens.”
The breakdown across the state is:
- Far North Queensland: 6522 people scanned, 61 weapons seized
- Townsville: 7932 people scanned, 99 weapons seized
- Mount Isa: 1217 people scanned, 10 weapons seized
- Mackay Whitsunday: 4194 people scanned, 10 weapons seized
- Capricornia: 2876 people scanned, 21 weapons seized
- South West: 1445 people scanned, 0 weapons
- Wide Bay Burnett: 826 people scanned, 14 weapons seized
- Darling Downs: 4134 people scanned, 25 weapons seized
- Ipswich: 3295 people scanned, 42 weapons seized
- Sunshine Coast: 3206 people scanned, 3 weapons seized
- Moreton: 4352 people scanned, 21 weapons seized
- Logan: 5537 people scanned, 30 weapons seized
- Gold Coast: 17,362 people scanned, 159 weapons seized
- North Brisbane: 12,193 people scanned, 68 weapons seized
- South Brisbane: 7557 people scanned, 40 weapons seized
