Bringing-Them-Home-Report-Web

The policing of Indigenous young people occurs within the broader context ofAboriginal/police relations. Those relations are themselves structured by both the historyof British colonisation of Australia and the colonial relations forged with Indigenouspeoples, as well as the nature of contemporary race relations and the extent of racismagainst Indigenous people within Australian society.Racism is endemic in Western Australia and is experienced in every area of society. However,the working conditions of police and the awesome power they wield can result in racism beingreproduced in a particularly heightened and intensified form. Aboriginal juveniles are oftensingled out for police attention (ALSWA submission 127 page 364).Several submissions to the Inquiry stated that over-policing is a major problem inmany Aboriginal communities (for example, Western Aboriginal Legal Service (BrokenHill) submission 755, ALSWA submission 127 pages 247-251). The ALSWA reiteratedthe need for protocols to regulate the interaction between police and Aboriginalcommunities. Protocols should address over-policing, policing needs in remotecommunities, interaction between police and community wardens (in WA), proceduresfor negotiation and involvement in decisions relating to policing priorities and methods.Major recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths inCustody also addressed the issue of over-policing and the establishment of protocols(Recommendations 88, 214, 215 and 223).These recommendations have been poorlyimplemented (Cunneen and McDonald 1997 pages 94-97, 100-102).Most Indigenous young people do not believe that Aboriginal/police relations areimproving. A 1994 survey by the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that some 40%of Indigenous young people thought Aboriginal/police relations were much the same asfive years ago, 18% saw an improvement and 20% thought relations were worse (1996page 24).However, there are also localised success stories. The reduction in juvenileoffending in Kowanyama in Queensland is due in part to the partnership between thelocal police sergeant and the Kowanyama Justice Council (Adams and Bimrose 1995page 42). Cooperative approaches between police and Aboriginal communities in thedevelopment of night patrols can improve Aboriginal/police relations, reduce policecustody levels and lower juvenile offending levels (Dodson 1996 pages 60-62).Policing public orderA range of legislative powers enables police to intervene against Indigenous youngpeople in public places. These can include specific provisions within public orderlegislation, local government ordinances and laws and, in some cases, the use of welfareprovisions which provide police with certain powers over young people in public places.Although the specific laws are particular to certain jurisdictions or, in some cases, localareas, the issue is a national one because of the common experience of Indigenous youngpeople.