IIARD International Institute of Academic Research and Development

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND MANAGEMENT RESEARCH (IJSSMR )

E-ISSN 2545-5303
P-ISSN 2695-2203
VOL. 3 NO. 3 2017

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Community Policing in Nigeria: Challenges and Prospects

Gbenemene Kpae (Ph.D) and Adishi, Eric, (Ph.D)

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Abstract

Community policing is a concept that is fast gaining ground in Nigeria especially among the police. Its model emphasizes proactive rather than reactive policing. It is also principled on partnership and decentralization of powers for effective crime fighting. The involvement of the community in crime fighting is a very essential element of community policing. While the Nigeria Police Force is used to the traditional model of policing where authorities are centralized and police only respond to call for service, in contrast, community policing believes that powers and responsibility of policing the neighborhood should be shared between the police and the community. It is a paradigm shift from the traditional policing of receiving orders from above to that of making decisions as situations arises in the community. The slow development of community policing in Nigeria is due largely to the police history that is built on a semi-military command structure, and where the police are used to the use of force and brutality. However, as community policing begins to gain acceptance by the police, it will reduce crime rate because the public will assist the police in crime fighting by becoming the eye of the police in the community.

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