Police Get Serious About Enforcing Laser Pointer Laws
While it may sound like fun to play superhero with a pocket laser, as Obi-Wan Kenobi has said, a lightsaber is “the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or random as a blaster. An elegant weapon for a...
Firearms Control Laws: Has Australia Got It Right?
Australia and the United States share many similarities - but one of the most striking differences is their respective approaches to gun ownership. Australia has gained recognition for its progressive approach to gun violence following the horrific Port Arthur massacre...
What You Shouldn’t Do in a Public Place
The silly season is upon us - and for most of us, the holiday period is marked by festivities and celebrations with family and friends. It is an especially busy period for police across Australia, who will charge thousands of...
NSW Police Adopt a ‘Shoot to Kill’ Policy
On the 13th of November 2015, the world watched in horror as a group of armed men carried out a series of orchestrated attacks at various locations around Paris. In the wake of these atrocities, the international community has been...
Where are they now? Defendants in famous criminal law cases
When examining the criminal law for principles and precedents, it can be easy to forget that each case involved real human beings. These individuals often have interesting lives beyond their landmark cases, and their criminal proceedings can have a lasting...
Police Fatally Shoot 11-Month Old Dog: ‘Justice for Hulk’
On 10 October, police paid a visit to the home of 23-year-old Daniel Still following claims that he had threatened people at Lake Macquarie. When they arrived, Mr Still’s dog, 11-month-old Hulk, defended his territory and allegedly attacked the officer...
Police Taser Man then Delete the Footage
Extra police powers introduced in 2013 allow Queensland officers to stop, detain and search a person without a warrant for “anything that may provide evidence of the commission of an offence” if they have a “reasonable suspicion” that the person...
Jury Finds that ‘Respect the Flag’ Group are a Criminal Gang
It’s an unfortunate day when a child’s birthday party ends in adults on the street with weapons drawn. In one such party in Douglasville, Georgia, which was attended predominantly by African-American people, the celebrations were interrupted when a group called...
Combating Radicalisation in Schools
Australia was rocked by the recent tragic shooting of police accountant Curtis Cheng by 15-year-old high school student Farhad Jabar. The incident has stuck in the minds of many for various reasons - it involved the death of an innocent...
Kiwis in Australian Immigration Detention: The Tragedy of Junior Togatuki
Like thousands of other Kiwis who make the trip across the Tasman Sea, Junior Togatuki came to Australia with his family as a young child in search of a better life. But life in Australia was not easy for Togatuki,...
