Jack Gramenz and Samantha Lock: NSW police will be able to stop and search people for a weapon without reasonable suspicion or a warrant under new laws designed to make the public feel safer and deter people from carrying knives.
the NSW Council for Civil Liberties said the laws would disproportionately impact vulnerable communities and subject them to increased surveillance, harassment and intervention.
President Lydia Shelly pointed towards official figures showing knife-related offences, including assaults and robberies, had consistently trended down in the state over the past two decades.
"There is simply no evidence supporting the introduction of these laws," she said in a letter to the attorney general on Tuesday.
"Proactive policing does not serve as a deterrent for crime, nor does criminalisation and increased penalties."
There were 4258 violent knife incidents recorded in 2004 compared to 1518 on 2023, according to the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research.
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