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Wednesday, November 29, 1972
CAREFUL USE OF GENERAL "STOP AND SEARCH" POWER ASSURED
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The Legislative Council was assured today that the proposed general
power for a police officer to search any member of the public in a public
place for any offensive weapon will not be used indiscriminately.
Giving this assurance, the Attorney General, the Hon. D.T.E. Roberts,
said that the Commissioner of Police fully agrees and he will do his best to
ensure this will not occur.
Moving the second reading of the Public Order (Amendment) (No. 2)
Bill 1972, Mr. Roberts said: "While the public has generally supported what
have been called 'stop and search' operations in the past, I am aware that
some misgivings have been expressed about this new wider power, which may cause
some inconvenience to innocent members of the public going about their ordinary
business."
He said he accepted the view that this power must be used with discretion.
At present, he said, a police officer may properly stop and search a
person in a public place if he is acting in a suspicious manner or if the police
officer suspects him of having committed, or being about to commit, any offence.
"The amendment proposed, therefore will relieve the police officer of
having to form a reasonable suspicion, before he carries out a search of a member
of the public and will enable areas to be cordoned off and anybody in the area
searched for offensive weapons," he said.
The bill has two other objects. Firstly, it provides for a minimum
sentence of six months' imprisonment to be imposed, or a detention order made,
against a person convicted of the offence of possessing an offensive weapon in a
public place; and secondly, it raises the maximus punishment for this offence
from two to three years.
/Mr. Roberts *******