Right: Victorian Police Commissioner Simon Overland. 'Fist fights are bad enough, but if people start fighting with knives, the consequences ... are likely to be very, very serious, if not fatal'.Further implications
The fate of Victoria's amended weapons control laws will ultimately depend on the effect of these amendments.The Victorian Government and Victoria Police hope that they will reduce crimes in which knives are used. There will be two clear measures as to whether they have done so. One will be the number of weapons the police actually confiscate from members of the public during such searches. The other, and more important measure, will be whether the number of crimes involving the use of knives actually declines. If such measures are positive and the Government is able to demonstrate that Victorians are generally safer as a result of these amendments, then voters may well be prepared to accept the infringement of their civil liberties that these stop and search laws represent.
However, it is likely to be a very different matter if these laws are acted upon and innocent citizens are inconvenienced for no discernible public benefit. What will further complicate this issue is if the laws are seen to be being implemented in a way that appears prejudiced. If a disproportionate number of people from particular racial minorities, from among the mentally ill, the homeless and young people are targeted for such searches, then civil liberties and other groups which speak for these individuals will lodge public and formal complaints.
There is also the question of police public relations. It is generally acknowledged that effective policing, especially among some key minority groups, involves establishing good relations between the police and the group concerned. These laws have the capacity to undermine such good relations. It is for this reason that similar laws have recently been wound back in London.