Strangers in a strange land: police perceptions of working in discrete Indigenous communities in Queensland, Australia

Dwyer, Anna; Scott, John; Staines, Zoe

doi:10.1080/15614263.2020.1759058

Cited by 14 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…A consequence of this systemic exclusion of community involvement by Balanda agencies was that only one of the participants in this study knew about the local emergency plan-its location and content. The Local Controller being the Police Officer-in-Charge and the emergency plan being placed in the Galiwin'ku police station demonstrate why excluding Yolηu undermines DRR-the police is widely distrusted by Yolηu due to them being the enforcer of Western "justice," including colonizing practices, such as removing Indigenous peoples from their homelands; controlling Indigenous lives; and propagating several harmful social policies, including the removal of children from the community (stolen generations) [58].…”

Section: Government Walking On Top Of Yolηumentioning

confidence: 99%

Facilitating Sustainable Disaster Risk Reduction in Indigenous Communities: Reviving Indigenous Worldviews, Knowledge and Practices through Two-Way Partnering

Ali

Buergelt

Paton

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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The Sendai Framework of Action 2015–2030 calls for holistic Indigenous disaster risk reduction (DRR) research. Responding to this call, we synergized a holistic philosophical framework (comprising ecological systems theory, symbolic interactionism, and intersectionality) and social constructionist grounded theory and ethnography within a critical Indigenous research paradigm as a methodology for exploring how diverse individual and contextual factors influence DRR in a remote Indigenous community called Galiwinku, in the Northern Territory of Australia. Working together, Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers collected stories in local languages using conversations and yarning circles with 20 community members, as well as participant observations. The stories were interpreted and analysed using social constructivist grounded theory analysis techniques. The findings were dialogued with over 50 community members. The findings deeply resonated with the community members, validating the trustworthiness and relevance of the findings. The grounded theory that emerged identified two themes. First, local Indigenous knowledge and practices strengthen Indigenous people and reduce the risks posed by natural hazards. More specifically, deep reciprocal relationships with country and ecological knowledge, strong kinship relations, Elder’s wisdom and authority, women and men sharing power, and faith in a supreme power/God and Indigenous-led community organizations enable DRR. Second, colonizing practices weaken Indigenous people and increase the risks from natural hazards. Therefore, colonization, the imposition of Western culture, the government application of top-down approaches, infiltration in Indigenous governance systems, the use of fly-in/fly-out workers, scarcity of employment, restrictions on technical and higher education opportunities, and overcrowded housing that is culturally and climatically unsuitable undermine the DRR capability. Based on the findings, we propose a Community-Based DRR theory which proposes that facilitating sustainable Indigenous DRR in Australian Indigenous communities requires Indigenous and non-Indigenous partners to genuinely work together in two-directional and complementary ways.

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Section: Government Walking On Top Of Yolηumentioning

confidence: 99%

Facilitating Sustainable Disaster Risk Reduction in Indigenous Communities: Reviving Indigenous Worldviews, Knowledge and Practices through Two-Way Partnering

Ali

Buergelt

Paton

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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show abstract

“…In Queensland, the Crime and Misconduct Commission (2012) reported that more work was needed to increase the numbers of Indigenous peoples in policing roles and to improve police-community relations overall. More recently, QPS officers interviewed by Dwyer et al (2020) predominantly described their relationships with the remote Queensland Indigenous communities they worked in as strained and felt that 'their efforts to build relationships . .…”

Section: Australian Policing and Indigenous Peoplesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In some recent police appointments to the TSR, a member of a local community justice group (staffed by Elders) had participated in the selection panel. This was considered a very useful practice and is not typically done in other mainland Indigenous communities (Dwyer et al, 2020). Participants agreed that the most successful officers integrated well into the local community by engaging in community events and networks.…”

Section: Policing Across a Vast And Challenging Geographymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It was therefore suggested that inductions of police into the local community could be further improved -a point that Dwyer et al (2020) suggest should also be considered in Queensland's other remote Indigenous communities. Relationships between sworn police officers and TSR communities were, however, also cited as being significantly improved through the presence and work of the TSIPSOs, who are unique to the TSR.…”

Section: Policing Across a Vast And Challenging Geographymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…event' (Wolfe, 2006, p. 388), this history is both echoed in and compounded by strained police-Indigenous relations today. This is especially the case in remote Indigenous communities where (predominantly white) police tend to see themselves as 'strangers [in] strange lands' (Dwyer et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

‘Without uniform I am a community member, uncle, brother, granddad’: Community policing in Australia’s Torres Strait Region

Staines

Scott

Morton³

2021

Journal of Criminology

Self Cite

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As a palpable legacy of violent colonialism, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (‘Indigenous’) Australians are the most incarcerated peoples in the world. Community policing, which hinges on the development of trusting community–police partnerships, is frequently proposed as a means of reducing this over-representation, but approaches vary and produce divergent outcomes. This article draws on interview data to explore policing in Australia’s Torres Strait Region – a remote archipelago situated off the northern tip of Queensland. A strong commitment to community and hybridised policing approaches likely provide a partial explanation for relatively low crime in the region. However, under-reporting of some offences (e.g. domestic violence) suggests a possible need to overlay alternative approaches that improve access to justice for all victims, especially women. Overall, the Torres Strait Region experience holds possible lessons for policing in Australia’s other remote Indigenous communities, again demonstrating that decolonisation is a critical starting point for addressing over-representation.

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Law Enforcement and Indigenous and Black People: The UK and U.S.

Warde

2023

Critical Criminological Perspectives

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Strangers in a strange land: police perceptions of working in discrete Indigenous communities in Queensland, Australia

Cited by 14 publications

References 24 publications

Facilitating Sustainable Disaster Risk Reduction in Indigenous Communities: Reviving Indigenous Worldviews, Knowledge and Practices through Two-Way Partnering

Facilitating Sustainable Disaster Risk Reduction in Indigenous Communities: Reviving Indigenous Worldviews, Knowledge and Practices through Two-Way Partnering

‘Without uniform I am a community member, uncle, brother, granddad’: Community policing in Australia’s Torres Strait Region

Law Enforcement and Indigenous and Black People: The UK and U.S.

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