COMMUNITY POLICING AND CRIME CONTROL: A THEORETICAL ELUCIDATION
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Abstract
The continuous increase in high rate of crime even in the presence of conventional policing is said to have triggered the call for shift from military-based policing to other democratic-based policing measures to curb crime. The Nigeria police has been under intense criticism over its apparent inability to prevent and control crime. A major factor responsible for this failure is not unconnected with the strength of manpower and equipment of the Nigeria Police force. The inability of the police to protect people, the disconnection between the public and the police in the community has resulted in the initiation of different interventions aimed at mitigating the prevalence of crimes in contemporary societies. The most emphasized intervention is community policing, built on the philosophy of creative collaboration between the police and the public in order to prevent and fight crime. In order to achieve the objective of this research, the study adopts a systematic review of literature using a library research and empirical review, while also employing the situation crime prevention theory to give insight to community policing and crime control. The paper revealed that positive relationship between police and society, and effective community policing practices significantly contributed to the police positive perception on community policing impact on crime control. Overall, police-community partnerships, community policing crime prevention strategies, and police-community problem solving are factors influencing crime reduction in Africa. Based on the findings, it was recommended that for community policing to have an inroad in Nigeria, the Nigeria police force must have a complete paradigm shift from its conventional model of policing to a more community-oriented policing that stresses community partnership, decentralization of powers, and proactive policing. The policing model should be that of partnership with less emphasis on regulatory powers and sanctions with greater reliance upon compromise and cooperation that would serve the public better.
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