South Australian police established the Mandrake anti-gang task force in 2003, while Operation Meld, launched in 2021, was aimed at tackling crime and violence committed by rival youth gangs.
SA's Guardian for Children and Young People, Shona Reid, said the operations ''both target children of colour specifically''.
''Operation Mandrake is for Aboriginal children, Operation Meld is for ... young people who are of African diaspora backgrounds,'' Ms Reid said in evidence to the parliamentary inquiry in Adelaide on Friday.
''It's important that the Commissioner of Police in South Australia might talk to that, but certainly children talk to me about that.''
SA police merged and expanded the two operations in February 2025 to create the Youth and Street Gangs Task Force.
An internal police report noted in 2024 that some offending had become a ''generational issue'', with many youth offenders being the children of previous Mandrake persons of interest.
Children ''talk about growing up in the shadows of Operation Mandrake … about not being able to break the stigma and their family stigma attached to Operation Mandrake'', Ms Reid said.
''I'm not trying to say that these task forces are not solely focused on criminal activity, what I'm saying is that it's racialised,'' she said.
It was important to recognise and challenge that, ''because that has gone unchallenged in South Australia'', Ms Reid - whose role at the independent statutory office is appointed by government - said.
Police Commissioner Grant Stevens' office has been contacted for comment.
The committee chair, Senator Jana Stewart, said that hearing directly from experts and people with lived experience was critical to understanding the scale and drivers of racism and identifying effective responses.
Ms Reid said that in youth detention centres, "children (tell us) 'look around, it's only black kids in here … I know this is my lot in life. I was born into the system. I'll die in the system' ''.
''That level of acceptance … should be something none of us in our community accept, but it is a reality for the children that I see every single day,'' she said.
''It's important that systemic reform goes beyond just stopping people being racist or saying bad things, it's about how we look at ourselves and how we value our children in our community.''
The Guardian's office ''consistently observes trauma, grief, cultural dislocation, disability and distress," she said.
The system frequently interpreted this "through a compliance-based lens, rather than a lens informed by cultural needs of these children'', Ms Reid said.
''(Their) behaviour communicates pain, which is often managed through control - children are moved between placements as a response to that behaviour, in response to that pain,'' she said.
''They need stability, they need connection, and they need grown ups in their lives to listen to them.''
13YARN 13 92 76
Lifeline 13 11 14
14°C