TOUGH new laws are set to be introduced to deter people from carrying knives in public.
Currently, the authorities in Jersey have to prove that anyone caught in possession of a knife intended to use it to harm someone.
In the UK – bar a few exceptions – simply carrying such a weapon is a criminal offence and the authorities do not need to prove intent in order to launch a prosecution.
Chief Inspector Chris Beechey, from the States police, said he hoped that the new legislation would help to reduce the number of weapons on the streets.
‘A lot of our work is based on intelligence,’ he said.
‘Let’s say we have intelligence that certain individuals are involved in drug dealing and when we target those people, we may stop and search them, and if we find weapons on them you would expect us to deal with them appropriately.
‘The challenge for us is that we have to prove that they were going to harm someone. That can be very difficult to do. That’s not the case in the UK.
‘The Jersey police would say that that would be a valuable tool for us to further our education piece. We know that some people will arm themselves and what this new legislation will do is remind people that there is no reason in Jersey to carry a bladed article in public.’
The government has confirmed that it plans to lodge the draft legislation, which forms part of wider work on public disorder, before the end of the year.
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Chief Insp Chris Beechey is interviewed in today’s JEP
