Police could be able to stop and search people for a weapon without reasonable suspicion or a warrant under laws being considered by the NSW government.
NSWCCL does not support giving police more powers. We believe this would amount to nothing more than a "knee-jerk response to a series of violent and distressing but isolated incidents".
Stephen Blanks for NSWCCL said "It wouldn't have done anything to protect against what happened in Bondi," he told AAP, referring to a mass stabbing attack that killed six people in a Westfield shopping centre.
The cost of imposing "airport-style security" for people to enter similar sites would be "absolutely prohibitive," he said.
Mr Blanks worried police would execute searches on marginalised communities, exacerbating resentment and tensions between groups.
Read more here.