THE POLICE AND USE OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY
ABSTRACT
This study examined the impact of Information and Communication Technology
(ICT) in operation and detection/ control of property crimes. One of the basic functions of every government is the protection of lives and properties. Hence, it is
the sole responsibility of the formal police structures to see to this objective and the problem of crime has become
acute that the police force as a government apparatus has no choice other than to employ the use of technologies to
curb crime. This study was positioned to evaluate the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in
property crimes detection and controls by the police in Abuja Municipal Area Council. The sample size for the study
comprised of two hundred (240) respondents cutting across (140) members of the police force and (100) members of
the public. The sampling technique for the study was the multistage sampling technique. The structured questionnaire
and in-depth interview (IDI) served as the instruments of data collection. The findings from the study therefore
revealed that the utilization of ICT by the police in property crimes detection and control has been significantly felt
within the Abuja Municipal Area Council. The study therefore recommends proactive strategies to effect a change in
the attitude of police and police organizational structure to accommodate ICT in their schemes.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
The major law enforcement agency, police have been recognized as an important part of the state administration.
Police is the major player to give greatest security to the public by controlling the crimes and maintenance of law and
order. In the ancient times the major job of the police personnel was to maintain law and order and establish the
sovereignty of the state. (Chaturbedi, 2006) Police is the state subject thereby, making state governments responsible
for maintaining law and order and preventing crime. In modern times due to the process of liberalization, privatization
and globalization the police force is facing the new challenges.
The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has been trying to operate a means to ensure that the internal security of the country
is maintained, but in spite of this effort, there appears to be growing uncertainty in public order, as reports of high
crime rate such as armed robbery, assassination, kidnapping and child trafficking seem to be on the increase (Punch
Newspaper, May 29, 2009, Pg. 7). With increasing anxieties of the fast growing cities and slums full of poor,
anonymous and potentially dangerous classes, it has been argued that the police hardly see itself as the law enforcer
and the defender of the society against lawbreakers. As such, this is responsible for the public criticism of the inability
of the police to fight crime in the society, as the police morale has also been dampened over the years.There is no
doubt that the need for technologies to help the police fight crime can never be over-emphasized as the relationship
between both the police and technologies goes a long way in the determination of the achievement and sustainability
of their ultimate goals, and also, the success and well-being of the nation at large. The role of technology in police
institutions and police practices has long been recognized as relevant and ambivalent (Ogunbameru, 2008).
Technological advances are particularly relevant for policing because they are seen to influence the organization and
practices of police in the ways that intimately connect to the police function of crime control. New and more efficient
means of crime detection, communication among police, and police transportation, all these influence how successful
police is doing its job as a group of crime fighters, and additionally affecting the level of legitimacy police receive from
the public and relevant bodies of governments (Simon, 2004).
Striking a more general theme of societal modernization in the development of policing, police’s reliance on
technology generates some tension between demands for effective crime control on the one hand, and a continued
and revived focus on issues of justice and rights, on the other hand. The increasing use of technology in police
institutions was virtually synonymous with advancing progress and civilization. However, soon after technologies were
introduced and applied by police, suspicions also mounted against an excessive and unbalanced reliance on
technology. In particular, civil-liberation currents sought to curb technologically driven police practices that were
motivated by a blind reliance on the often assumed, but largely unproven merits of technologies at the expense of
concerns of civil rights and constitutional demands of due process. The tension between a need for efficacy in crime
control and the recognition and respect for citizen and human rights has remained a central topic of controversy since
when technologies were applied in policing.
THE POLICE AND USE OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY