"Random weapons searches" on Aussie citizens

[Bruce in West Oz]

This just about takes the cake as far as I'm concerned.

Police plan random weapon searches in Melbourne

Police are introducing random weapons searches in Melbourne in response to rising violent crimes in the city.

From tomorrow, police will use metal detectors to search people in Elizabeth, Bourke and Russell streets, as well as Southbank.

Superintendent Mick Williams says the searches will concentrate on areas where weapon attacks have been found.

"We really want to send a clear message to the community to those people who do make a practice of arming themselves with a weapon," he said.

"If you do come into Melbourne the particular operation we have going at the moment is members of the police will have metal detectors and in the areas we're targeting will be conducting scans of certain individuals."

Liberty Victoria says it is important that police officers stick to the law when conducting weapons searches.

Liberty Victoria vice-president Jamie Gardiner says he is confident police will only conduct a search if there is reasonable suspicion that a person is committing or about to commit an offence.

"The role of the police is to uphold the law and in order to uphold the law you also have to obey the law and the law is quite clear that you can't go interfering with people's liberty without proper cause, so I'm confident that police will aim to do that properly."

I don't think I have ever read a more dipstick response than that by the so-called civil liberties watchdog. He has to be joking! The very name "random" means the searches won't be confined to situations where "there is reasonable suspicion that a person is committing or about to commit an offence".

Looks like Melbourne's off my travel list.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s1053830.htm

 

[Pilgrim]

Why not just have people walk around naked in those areas of high violent crime?

Pilgrim

 

[jsalcedo]

A gun beats a metal detector wand everytime

 

[P95Carry]

How long before the bubble bursts Bruce ... I mean ... the ''it's for your own good'' line gets kinda tedious eventually, surely.

Like as not ... it'll take 99 searches of honest folk to even stand a chance of finding one villain who is armed .... and that my friend is one hell of a bite into privacy and liberty.

It's a sad trend ...

 

[Greg L]

The problem is how many of those 99 will kick up a fuss over being searched. If it is less than 1 per 99 then the blissninnies have won (it's for the children after all, certainly you can search me ).

Good luck Bruce. Unfortunately I expect that the percentages are about the same on this side of the ocean .

Greg