Racialized Policing: Aboriginal People’s Encounters with the Police

Taking on the controversial subject of racial profiling by Canadian police, this book explores how ethnicity and discrimination play out in institutional practices and systemic processes, exposing the ways in which policing is racialized. The volume draws on the historical records and contemporary cases of Aboriginal–police relations—such as the shootings of J. J. Harper and Matthew Dumas by Winnipeg police officers and the “Starlight Tours” in Saskatoon—as well as interviews conducted with Aboriginal people in Winnipeg’s inner-city communities, examining how race and racism inform the routine practices of police officers and how they affect their encounters with Aboriginal people. Arguing that resolution requires a fundamental transformation in the structure and organization of policing, this bold analysis makes suggestions for reframing the role of police as well as their peacekeeping efforts.