It’s been hailed as a lifesaver, but can Jack’s Law really curb Victoria’s violent gangs?

Tougher police search powers that the Allan government is being urged to introduce would fail to curb knife crime and would risk unfairly targeting vulnerable communities, it has been claimed.

As the premier faces pressure to act following two fatal stabbings, an expert has warned that increased search powers would not help make the streets any safer and could have unintended consequences.

Renewed calls for greater police powers follow the killing of 12-year-old Chol Achiek and 15-year-old Dau Akueng, who were stabbed to death in an ambush by eight masked assailants in Cobblebank, near Melton, at the weekend.

Jack’s Law – introduced in Queensland in 2023 following the stabbing death of Jack Beasley in 2019 – would give police the power to use metal detectors on people anywhere in the state where knife crime is viewed as a risk.

Beasley’s father, Brett, has urged Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan to bring in a similar law, saying such searches are non-invasive and would save lives.

“Queensland Police absolutely love it up here; they’ve scanned 173,000 people and confiscated 1700 weapons,” he told radio station 3AW.

“It doesn’t matter what colour your skin is at all, if you’re walking around armed with a weapon. It’s all about community safety.

“At the end of the day, we want our kids to come home safe and not feel threatened about walking around the streets of Victoria, in shopping centres and train stations.”

Allan has left the door open to further strengthening police powers but maintains current stop and search powers have been highly effective at getting weapons off the streets while still protecting the rights of individuals.

A state government spokesperson said the expanded powers had resulted in a record 10,000 knives and machetes being taken off the streets.

Victoria’s stop and search powers allow police to search for weapons – using physical searches or metal detectors – without a warrant but only in designated areas.

By comparison, Jack’s Law was recently expanded and made permanent in Queensland, allowing police to use metal detectors to search anyone in any area where knife crime could be a risk.

Swinburne University criminologist Joel McGregor said Jack’s Law was largely symbolic, designed to reassure the public rather than tackle the root causes of knife crime.

“It really gives the public the impression of doing something while diverting attention away from long-term solutions,” he said.

“One thing that really worries me is that there would be over-policing of, particularly, groups of young people – including culturally diverse people and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. They are already disproportionately stopped and searched.”

McGregor said tough-on-crime solutions might lead to a short-term reduction in crime – as groups came under increased surveillance – but would not lead to a long-term decline.

A Griffith University review of Jack’s Law in Queensland found while there was some evidence of increased detection of knives, there was no reduction in knife crime following a one-year trial of the law.

The report found use of metal-detecting scanners (wanding) was inconsistent across different groups of people, and there was evidence of inappropriate use of stereotypes and cultural assumptions by a small number of police.

“While wanding has been useful to better detect weapons (in one site only), there is no evidence as yet of any deterrent effect,” it said.

The nation’s leading retail associations have thrown their support behind Jack’s Law, calling for other states to adopt the controversial police powers to combat a “scourge” of retail crime.

“We believe these laws will make a difference,” Australian Retailers Association chief executive Chris Rodwell said. “As a sector that’s regularly impacted by these violent offenders, retailers are committed to working with police to identify and apprehend these criminals.

“Queensland is considered a best-in-class state for knife reform for both Jack’s Law and knife-sale legislation, and nationwide replication of the Queensland model would represent a significant stride in ensuring the safety of our shoppers and retail workers.”

The killings of Chol Achiek and Dau Akueng were the latest in a spate of violent and gang-related attacks that have left parents fearful of letting their children leave the house and urging the government to act.

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