Native Police Corps
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From as early as the 1830s, a Native Police Corps was established in the Australian colony of New South Wales (now Victoria). It made use of Aboriginal men as trackers and to supplement the numbers of white policemen. Several attempts to achieve this were made; one of the more successful was that of Henry EP Dana between 1842 and 1852, around 25 kilometres southeast of Melbourne. This Corp was made up of 60 members, three quarters of whom were "natives".[1]. There were two goals in such a force: to make use of the indigenous people's tracking abilities, as well as to assimilate the individuals into white society.
The duties of the native police included searching for missing persons, carrying messages, and escorting dignataries through unfamiliar territory. During the goldrush era, they were also used to patrol goldfields and search for escaped prisoners. They were provided with uniforms, firearms, food rations and a rather dubious salary. However, the lure of the goldfields, poor salary and Dana's eventual death in 1852 led to the official disentegration of his Native Police Corps in January 1853.[2]
Other native police forces were also established in what are now Queensland, Northern Territory and Western Australia.
[edit] Refences
- ^ http://www.prov.vic.gov.au/nativepolice/background.html
- ^ http://www.prov.vic.gov.au/nativepolice/background_postscript.html
