EFFECT OF COMMUNITY POLICING ON CRIME PREVENTION IN NIGERIA
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Neighborhood watch is one of the traditional and best known crime prevention concepts in North America. It was popularly known as the neighborhood watch
organization in Pasadena Hills, under the direction of St. Louis Country Police Officer, Kyle Jundt, resident Geno
Salvati and resident Ed Tyler. The International Code of Enforcement Ethics reveals the primary reason for
establishing formal police system in any society thus: as a law enforcement officer, my fundamental duty is to serve
mankind and property; to safeguard lives and property; to protect the innocent against deception; the weak against
oppression or intimidation, and the peaceful against violence and disorder; and to respect constitutional rights of all
the men to liberty, equity and justice (Qadri, 2005). Admittedly, the main role of the police is to enforce law and order,
safeguard lives and property, and render other essential services in the society. Put in a different way, fighting crimes
and criminals is so difficult that the police and other law enforcement agencies alone cannot perform this task and
achieve maximum positive results. Since the most visible part of criminal activities take place at the neighborhood
level, policing agencies need public support and co-operation. Intensive partnership and collaborative efforts of both the formal and informal agents of social control remain preconditions for a possible near ‘crime-free’ society (a
complete crime free society is utopia); in other words, the idea will lead to a great success in crime prevention and
control in the community.
Community policing is in hand with systematic relationship between the police and the entire people in the community.
Police roles and functions are not simply law enforcement but also include tackling a huge range of community
problems. The movement from traditional policing to community policing is a universal phenomenon and the Nigeria
police cannot be an exception to this. Indeed, community policing as a philosophy and practice is a veritable vehicle
for police reforms (Okiro, 2007). The Nigeria police in 2004, adopted community policing as a practical approach to
police reforms. The stage was indeed set for a clear departure from traditional policing, that was reactive and incident
based, to a problem solving oriented policing that is proactive with the community as the important part of policing
objectives (Abdulrahaman, 2007).
Community policing is a paradigm shift that seeks to focus on constructive engagement with people who are
the end users of the police service and renegotiate the agreement between the people and the police therefore
making the community co-producers of justice and a quality police force. The most recent attempt made by the
Nigeria police force to improve its performance was the introduction of community policing programme in 2004. This
was part of the Nigerian Police force’s effort to change policing to a new and professional policing capable of ensuring
and maintaining proper security of lives and property in Nigeria. Community oriented policing is a proactive measure
that promotes curbing criminal act.
Conclusively, the police involvement in community affairs is another strong strategy that allows the police to display
themselves as both private citizens and State agents of social control. Community policing under this programme or
strategy presents the police as servants of the society who, should in a reasonable manner, enforce law and order
and ensure public compliance with policies. Extant studies also attest that the involvement of police in community
affairs has actually yielded fruitful results. For instance, Quinney (1974) affirmed that when the community
collaborates with police personnel in maintaining social order, it helps the legal system also to be increasingly used in
criminal justice administration. The police are viable instrument for building an inclusive and organised community
policing in Nigeria. Police involvement in community affairs facilitates rapid and timely control of persistence rebellion,
whether in outright political processes or behaviour that otherwise, violates the rules of the society. Community
policing also helps the State policing actors to exercise its repressive force on the people in order to achieve
compliance with the law (see also Kelly & Clark, 2003). This technique can be employed only in a physically and
socially dis-organised community. In more dis-organised areas, some experts pointed out, police use aggressive tactics to reduce crime and ‘take back the streets’ before building relations with community leaders (Siegel, 2008 citing Nolan, Conti & McDevitt, 2004).
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
In spite the efforts of various police administrations to curb crime in Nigeria, crime and social disorder in Nigeria, it is
obvious that there is still persistence of crime in the country. Thousands of lives and millions of naira worth of property
are being lost as a result of one crime or the other. Some believed that the inability of the Nigeria police to ensure maximum security in the country is as a result of so many social and technical challenges ranging from lack of
necessary tools to curb crime in the community and lack of maximum cooperation by the people in the communities (
Dawn Newspaper, 2011).
Corruption in the Nigeria police force is fueling abuses against ordinary citizens and severely undermining the rule of
law in Nigeria on a daily basis. Numerous ordinary Nigerians have been accosted by countless armed police officers
who specialized at demanding bribes and committing human rights abuses against by extorting money from them.
These abuses range from ordinary arrest and unlawful detention to threats and acts of violence, including sexual
assault, torture, and even extrajudicial killings (Human Rights Watch, 2010).
Police is not unique. Corruption is now rampant in the Nigeria police force. Various issues of corruption concerning
the commission have been seen and reported. However, the issue of corruption in the Nigeria police as noted above
cannot be treated in isolation of the larger society. Corruption in the police is so prevalent that it has destroyed
people’s trust and confidence they have in the police. Because of this prevalence of corruption in Nigeria and in the
force, this study then aimed at investigating the effect of community policing on crime in Nigeria.
1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
These are some of the questions the study is designed to answer:
i) what is the prevalence of community policing on crime reduction in Nigeria?
ii) what are the factors that affect community policing in Nigeria?
iii) what are the efforts taken by the government to ensure better community policing in Nigeria?
EFFECT OF COMMUNITY POLICING ON CRIME PREVENTION IN NIGERIA