ABSTRACT
Police have adopted a variety of approaches to improving relations with Indigenous people but, as the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody recognised, there is no simple magic formula. For change to be effective it must be built on the basis of negotiation with local Aboriginal communities and have their full support. The policy initiatives involved in community policing sit uncomfortably with the issue of over-policing discussed. In towns with a large police presence it is difficult to see how the rhetoric of community policing can be matched with the feeling among the Aboriginal community that they are the object of constant and adverse police attention. A key area for the implementation of community policing strategies has been the use of community consultative committees to give effect to the principles of community involvement/.
