Internal SA Police report reveals evolving youth crime gang landscape

A new SA Police report offers a rare glimpse into the youth crime gangs threatening South Australia and how they’ve evolved over time.

Two specialist youth crime taskforces – operating for a combined 25 years – struggled to carry out proactive investigations due to a lack of staff and skills, an internal SA Police document reveals.

The previously unreleased report, which was obtained by the opposition through Freedom of Information, gives a rare glimpse into South Australia’s evolving youth gangs and the rationale for a larger, more specialised task force.

The report was prepared in April 2024 to advocate for a fresh approach to tackling the problem across the state.

It resulted in SAPOL unveiling a new super task force in February, amid growing concerns over youth crime across the state, including bloody clashes involving machetes as well as shootings.

The Youth and Street Gangs Task Force – formed through a merger of Operation Mandrake and Operation Meld and bolstered by additional officers – has since made 104 arrests and laid 260 charges.

Here is how it came to be:

SA Police launched a youth gang crime super task force in February this year. Picture: Brenton Edwards

OPERATION MELD

Operation Meld, which was established in July 2021, initially focused on investigating the criminal activities of gangs involving youths from African backgrounds known as 051, from Kilburn, and Killa Block Squad (KBS), from the northern suburbs.

“Both gangs are highly organised and operate under a formal structure,” the report read.

“An escalation in offending between the two groups resulted in aggravated assaults, stabbings, affrays and drive-by shootings.”

Both KBS and 051 gang members used social media platforms to promote their groups.

“There is a clear link to the ‘drill rap’ culture that developed in the US and UK, where gangs ‘rap’ about their crimes in videos posted to YouTube,” the report said.

Members of these gangs also associate with, and support, bikie gang members, and attend their events.

The gangs have evolved over the past four years and now mainly comprise adult members, who are involved in drug trafficking, firearms and fraud offences.

“Given the nature of the gang structure and level of offending amongst this group it is unlikely their criminality will diminish,” the report stated.

In late 2023, a new youth gang called 092 was identified. Police said members were aligned with KBS.

Other gangs of youths from African backgrounds have also emerged in recent times “which appear to be feeder gangs for KBS and 051.

OPERATION MANDRAKE

Operation Mandrake was created in 2003 to crack down on a specific group of offenders, the majority of whom were of males of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Island descent.

These groups were involved in violent crimes and property offending that posed “a significant risk to community safety”.

In more recent times, the crimes allegedly committed by Mandrake persons of interest were predominantly house break-ins and car theft.

They would also steal high-value items such as electronic devices, money, jewellery and credit cards.

“Offenders have been identified moving into regional areas across the state including Port Augusta, Port Lincoln, Murray Bridge and Ceduna due to family relationships,” the report read.

“The operation has highlighted a continuing trend of older offenders (adult/older youth) recruiting younger offenders and is predicted to continue into the future; evidenced through the 20-year history of the operation.”

The report noted that Mandrake offending had been a “generational issue” with many of today’s youth offenders being the children of former Mandrake persons of interest.

SAPOL is hoping to crack down on youth crime gangs. Picture: Roy VanDerVegt

SAPOL’S CASE FOR A NEW SUPER TASK FORCE

The report, which relied on data which showed SA experienced an 11 per cent increase in youth offending across 2022-23, highlighted issues that had impaired the effectiveness of operations Mandrake and Meld.

“The biggest challenge within Operation Mandrake and Operation Meld has been the lack of proactive investigational opportunity due to staffing challenges and lack of required skillset of members attached to the sections,” the report read.

“Whilst there will always be a tactical component to the operation of the section, an enhanced investigational focus would ensure opportunities to disrupt crime and disable networks within identified groups.”

The report said that by merging Mandrake and Meld into a super task force, it would increase the workforce, consolidate intelligence capability, and provide greater flexibility.

It stated that this would mean that if a new street gang emerged, police could respond more quickly to it.

“The establishment of the new model would ensure SAPOL is able to adequately respond to current and future trends concerning youth and street gang crime across Metropolitan Operations Service and other areas of the state as required,” it said.

WHAT THE AUTHORITIES SAY

A SAPOL spokesman said the report was “nothing more than a business-as-usual document used internally for assisting in making decisions regularly”.

Police Minister Stephen Mullighan said SA had the lowest youth crime rate in the nation.

“Over successive budgets this government has provided increased funding to SA Police to get more sworn officers on frontline duties,” he said.

“This has enabled SA police to allocate additional resources to combat the scourge of youth crime and establish the Youth and Street Gangs Task Force.”

Opposition police spokesman Jack Batty said it was “time to lay down the law”.

“Youth gangs know we have weak laws but the government has done nothing,” he said.

“We must back our frontline police with stronger bail laws.”

Originally published as Internal SA Police report reveals evolving youth crime gang landscape