Summary
This thesis examines police-Aboriginal (Indian and Metis) community relations in Saskatoon during the fall and winter of 1992. Aboriginal perceptions of, attitudes towards, and experiences with, police are examined. While this is not a comparative study, 'race' is theorized to be an important variable governing police treatment of Aboriginal peoples as citizens, suspects, offenders and victims of crime. The interactional processes of encounters are regarded as essential to understanding police-Aboriginal relations. This study also seeks to reveal perceptions of differential treatment; pertinent factors which contribute to the construction and maintenance of attitudes held by urban Aboriginal peoples towards police, and what Aboriginal peoples feel can be done to improve the current state of police-Aboriginal relations.