Community Policing and Crime Reduction in Ebonyi State: A Study of Nigeria Police Force, Ebonyi State Command, Abakalik

Abstract

The issue of community policing has been at the
forefront of burning national issue in Nigeria especially
in recent times. It has been argued that the police cannot
succeed in crime management without strong
collaboration with members of the public. In view of the
above, the study examines Community Policing and
Crime Reduction in Ebonyi State: A Study of Nigeria
Police Force, Ebonyi State Command Abakaliki. The
study was anchored on the Participatory Theory
propounded by Bohm (1996) and Freire (1997).
Descriptive survey design was adopted. The population
of this study was 1473 which was reduced to a sample
size of 315. Data for the study were collected from
primary source. Questionnaire instrument was used in
data collection. Data were analyzed using frequency
distribution tables and simple percentages whereas the
Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (r)
was used to test the hypotheses formulated for the study.
Findings revealed that community policing has
significantly contributed in reducing the incidence of
kidnapping in Ebonyi State (r = 0.742, p-value, 0.011);
community policing has contributed in reducing the
incidence of armed robbery attack in Ebonyi State (r =
0.801, p-value, 0.01); and community policing has
significantly contributed in reducing incidence of rape
cases in Ebonyi State (r = 0.621, p-value, 0.00). The
implication of the findings is that community policing
has significantly contributed in crime reduction in
Ebonyi State. The study therefore recommended that:
There is need for increased collaboration between the
police and members of the public in order to contain the
incidence of kidnapping in Ebonyi State; there is need
for increased collaboration between the police and
members of the public in order to contain the incidence
of armed robbery attack in Ebonyi State; and there is
need for increased collaboration between the police and
members of the public in order to contain the incidence
of rape cases in Ebonyi State.