Inside Adelaide’s second most dangerous suburb Elizabeth where a violent crime is committed almost every day

A violent crime is committed in Elizabeth almost daily with a re-emerging threat behind a new wave. The Advertiser walked the streets to see what life is really like.

It has a reputation for crime, drugs and Holdens but what is life really like in Elizabeth?

When you ask locals they describe South Australia’s second most dangerous suburb, according to crime statistics, as a friendly, salt-of-the earth type of place until things explode in an instant.

Almost every day a violent crime is committed in Elizabeth.

It has the second highest crime rate in metropolitan Adelaide with 28 “against the person” offences committed per 100 people, according to The Advertiser’s analysis of the most recent annual South Australia Police crime statistics.

It’s just ahead of Port Adelaide at 17 and the only place more dangerous is the shopping and services hub of Noarlunga Centre which has a population of just over 200 compared to Elizabeth’s 1047.

EXPOSED: SA’S 400+ MOST DANGEROUS SUBURBS RANKED

The analysis compares the number of crimes ranging from blackmail to assault and murder recorded in South Australian suburbs by population.

Within Elizabeth’s brown and red brick laden residential patches residents point out certain “problem areas” that they try to avoid.

One of those spots is near parklands on the corner of Judd and Ashfield roads.

Next door there is a dishevelled boarding house where a woman in her 60s who introduces herself as Nanna Woo lives.

She said the people who live in the public housing are “lovely and friendly” but then “all of a sudden you’ll hear a scream, the police will arrive and we find out someone got stabbed”.

“Over-crowding doesn’t help,” said Nanna Woo, who pays $245 a week to live with five other people with “so many little cockroaches” darting around the crumbling kitchen tops that it is impossible to cook.

“I got beaten up in my own house not that long ago.”

Nearby there’s a man standing on a traffic island, he is staring at the moon and said he had been there for half an hour, “taking one small stand for mankind. Honouring the memory of Neil Armstrong”.

At the Carl’s Jr fast food chain on Main North Rd, Mark Shaw, a community advocate who has lived in Elizabeth and surrounds for 20 years, said the people and crime in the suburb were shifting.

Community advocate Mark Shaw in Elizabeth. Picture: Matt Loxton

“The demographics of the area are changing, it’s not so much meth and poverty now, but youth gangs,” Mr Shaw said

“Youth gangs were a problem once, they went away, but they are back again and they are becoming more brazen.”

Mr Shaw mentions crime at Elizabeth Shopping Centre where two people were allegedly stabbed in separate incidents in a matter of hours just last month.

A teenager was stretchered out by paramedics and left fighting for life after the wild knife fight in the food court. Three teens were charged.

Among the chaos and confusion, a 34-year-old security guard was treated for a cut to his forearm after chasing alleged Lego shoplifters to the nearby bus interchange. Two women were charged.

“I have friends who work in the shopping centre, they weren’t surprised to see the fight, but when the knife came out, that took everyone aback, including I think the young people in those groups,” Mr Shaw said.

Mr Shaw said safety could be improved by expanding the state sports vouchers, creating “more ways for young people to express themselves” and by the whole Playford region hosting more events.

“Think about where we are, all the new developments, we could become the cultural epicentre of the North,” he said.

Empty lot in Elizabeth with plenty of potential. Picture: Matt Loxton

When asked about youth crime in Elizabeth, a police spokesperson said it provided “proactive and visible presence” in the area.

“Local police work closely with community leaders, schools, and various government and non-government agencies to prevent and reduce crime, ensuring community safety,” they said.

“Our role includes monitoring repeat offenders and working closely with families and young people to divert them from criminal activities.”

Police didn’t answer questions about the alleged stabbings but said high crimes areas in Elizabeth were more heavily policed.

“Patrols, when not allocated to specific tasks, default to areas identified as having higher criminal activity,” they said.

“In these areas, patrols provide a highly visible presence, detecting offences and reassuring the community of their safety.”

 

It’s not just Elizabeth. Elizabeth South, Elizabeth Vale, Elizabeth Downs, Elizabeth Grove, Elizabeth Park and Elizabeth East all saw a rise in on-person crime last financial year.

Except Elizabeth North where three less offences were committed.

There were 1236 assaults across all eight suburbs in 12 months – or more than three a day – in a population of around 23,000.

Sarah Jane Harvey would get out of Elizabeth East where violent crime rose by just shy of 25 per cent last year, if she could.

Sarah Jane Harvey lives in Elizabeth East. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe

The woman said she felt lucky to have a housing trust home to live in with 15,500 people on the waiting list but finds syringes daily – in parks and her local bus stop.

“I have witnessed first hand families fighting and family domestic violence grappling Elizabeth East,” Ms Harvey said.

“The fighting sprawls out into the streets, this could be as early as 8.30am in the morning right through till 3am in the morning.”

While walking the streets that link Elizabeth to Elizabeth Downs where crime spiked by 12 per cent a woman is screeching through burning vocal cords and madly swatting.

“F — g get away from me you f — g c — s,” she screamed.

It’s the flies.

“You’ve made an enemy of me, you ugly c---s. I am going to rip your f — g heads off,” she continued for minutes and minutes with threats only getting more violent.

Originally published as Inside Adelaide’s second most dangerous suburb Elizabeth where a violent crime is committed almost every day