The Guardian: NSW police’s ‘extraordinary’ search powers a ‘blank cheque’ to target Indigenous youth, lawyers say

In 2019, a 14-year-old boy appeared before a tribunal in New South Wales.

He was the subject of a firearm prohibition order (FPO), which meant police had the ability to search him or his home at any time without a warrant.

But he was also stuck in a catch-22. The order could be placed on him, but because he was a minor, the tribunal said it had no jurisdiction to hear his application to remove it.

Neither would the order ever expire. Only the police commissioner could lift it.

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Jonathan Hall Spence, the principal solicitor with the Justice and Equity Centre, says the low rate of successful searches calls into question the efficacy of FPO search powers.

“That may suggest that these powers are not properly being targeted towards people at high risk of firearms-related offences, and instead are being used in a much broader way to surveil and target already overpoliced communities,” he says.

This issue was also highlighted on The Guardian’s Instagram page.