Delinquent teens (eshays) with knives at Rundle Mall

I’m back from interstate and came to Rundle Mall again today for some retail therapy and catch-ups with friends who do shift work and saunter around during the day.

I am flabbergasted yet again that I spotted two eshays (complete with Anakin Skywalker Padawan-style braided rat’s tail thingy) with knives, one poorly concealing it, clearly facing blade-up in his wide trackpants pocket, and another openly removing a knife from his trackpants waistband in one of the gents’ restrooms near the urinals.

When is enough enough? I can’t comment on any record these two have or don’t have, but many of the people who take up security’s time do have records. They obviously haven’t learned from any prior interactions.

I know they say don’t judge a book by its cover, yet there’s a very valid stereotype of the people likely to carry knives in Adelaide.

People will say ‘you should report this’ but this stuff is reported to the mall, CrimeStoppers and police all the time with zero results.

There is no deterrence factor for the public carrying of knives these days, even in constantly packed places like Rundle Mall, where they might pass two or three thousand people after a few hours.

I have heard so much about knife crime of late and supposed new legislative responses, especially since the Bondi Junction Westfield stabbing massacre by Joel Cauchi in Sydney, but the otherwise effective laws already on the books never seem to be used, here in SA or elsewhere.

Unlike Joel Cauchi, however, there are much clearer warning signs about some people coming into Rundle, plus going to the more outer suburban malls.

I hear a lot of people attributing blame to the “cost of living crisis”. My response to that is that if they’re automatons who can’t help but act this way in a certain economic climate, wouldn’t it better to lock them up or section them until said crisis is over?

Compared to the comparatively constantly intrusive surveillance footage at places like Rundle, I would say random wanding for knives similar to random airport pat-downs is in order.