ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the idea and praxis of “policing” within settler colonial societies such as Australia. We do this through consideration of various issues including Aboriginal deaths in police custody and missing and murdered Aboriginal women and children. We conclude with a reflection on strategies of Aboriginal community defence and community building. Our argument in this chapter is informed by various approaches which challenge commonly held ideas and assumptions about policing and legitimacy within settler colonial contexts. This paper considers key concepts such as “settler colonialism”, “decolonial/postcolonialism”, “abolition/decarceration”, “institutional racism” and “genocide” and draws upon contemporary case studies of long-fought campaigns of justice brought by Indigenous families and communities. Finally, the authors reflect on contemporary sovereignty and self-determination movements and their implications for police powers, such as non-state safety initiatives, community defence strategies and the “no jurisdiction” cases.
