15 break-ins in 12 months: Davenport community members hit by endless crime wave

Residents of a community on the outskirts of Port Augusta are fed up with youth crime after one family home was broken into more than a dozen times in the past year.

Residents of an community on the outskirts of Port Augusta are fed up with youth crime, with one couple counting the cost of 15 break-ins at their home in the past 12 months.

Malcolm and Dorothy McKenzie, who live at the Davenport community about five minutes from the Port Augusta town centre, are still trying to work out how much was stolen in the latest break-in on Friday, when Ms McKenzie woke at 3am to find their back door open and keys missing.

“I seen a figure there and I screamed out,” Ms McKenzie said.

“They got all the keys and opened the side gate.”

Davenport resident Malcolm “Tiger” McKenzie says his home has been broken into 15 times in the past year. Picture: Riley Walter

She said her grandson’s wallet was stolen, as well as two pairs of his shoes from outside the back door and $40 from her purse.

“We’ve got to go through everything we’ve got and see what’s gone,” Mr McKenzie said.

“It’s so frustrating.”

During the break-in, a window was ripped off the McKenzies’ shed, where their grandson’s motorbike is kept. They now keep the motorbike locked up in their laundry.

The last time the couple’s home was broken into, screens were cut through using a blade.

“We don’t know what (other weapons) they’re carrying,” Mr McKenzie said.

He said police attended their home on Friday after he reported the latest break-in, but he criticised their efforts to identify the thieves.

Davenport resident Malcolm “Tiger” McKenzie says his home has been broken into 15 times in the past year. Picture: Riley Walter

“It would have been good if they tried to look,” he said.

SA Police was contacted for comment.

Mr McKenzie said more needed to be done to address the youth issues at Davenport.

“We’ve gone to the police but what are we going to do as a community?” he said.

In March, The Advertiser revealed a group of youths at Davenport, dubbed “DPG” or “Davenport Gangsters”, were roaming the community and the streets of Port Augusta, where they claimed to break into houses and cars, stealing money, jewellery and whatever they could get their hands on.

Last week, government-led community workshops were held to try and address youth anti-social behaviour in town and at Davenport, with the state government committing $150,000 a year to a safety and wellbeing investment on top of an existing $300,000 fund.

Members of one of Port Augusta’s self-proclaimed youth gangs, including children as young as 10, roam the streets until midnight. Picture: Riley Walter

Human Services Minister Nat Cook said youth crime in Davenport and Port Augusta was a “whole of community issue and requires a whole of community response”.

She said the government shared the community’s concerns about “negative issues regarding youth crime and anti-social behaviour”.

“Entrenched issues don’t appear overnight and will not disappear quickly, but the community has invested a lot of time and energy over the past nine months to work positively with government to ensure we deliver programs that work,” she said.

Port Augusta Mayor Linley Shine was pleased with the state government’s response and was “positive about what is happening”, but said youth behaviour in the town was still an issue.

“I’m not going to go ahead and say the whole situation is under control, because it’s not under control,” she said.

“No doubt there is this ongoing challenge around these matters.

“This is one of these matters that is going to take some time to go ahead and get on top of.”

Ms Shine said she expected a response from the state government in early June on “where to go from here”.

“We do want sustainability with this,” she said.

In March, Ms Shine called for extra police resources in Port Augusta but was “not really aware” if more had been allocated to the town.

“Have I seen a visual around any increasing numbers? Not really, I would tend to say.

“I haven’t really seen an increase.”