Effects of Community Policing On Crime Prevention in Kakamega County, Kenya
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Date
2019
Authors
Gitoru, Karuri Joseph
Muna, Wilson
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Full Length Research
Abstract
The Community’s role in quest for crime
prevention constructs confidence between
citizens and the police by bringing on board
both the civil society, the law enforcement
officers, and native people to advance home
grown security measures for safe keeping
and safety apprehensions thus inhibiting
crime rate. The rise of complex criminal
activities in the world and Kenya today
makes it difficult for communities to carry
on with their work confidently. There are
myriad of challenges on matters of security
and wellbeing, prompting many
governments to partner with the public to
provide for policing services as it is
enshrined in the Kenyan National police act
as well as coming up with various mitigation
strategies to cub the high rate of crime with
community policing being one of the
strategies. The crime rate has affected the
operation of the community thus need to
address the issue. Previous studies have
mostly looked at community policing by
focusing on the safety factor and omitting
the prevention part of it especially in the
cosmopolitan towns. The research,
therefore pursued to explore the issue of
community policing on crime prevention in
Kakamega County. The research was
directed by the following objectives;
assessed the effects community policing
techniques on crime prevention in
Kakamega County, found out the effects of
community participation on crime
prevention in Kakamega County, Kenya,
thirdly it sought to ascertain effects of
knowledge among community members on
crime prevention strategies in Kakamega
County, Kenya. The target population
included 321 Community opinion leaders,
41 NPS Members; OCPD, OCS, Deputy
OCS, 14 Provincial administrators; chiefs,
assistant chiefs, and 36 leaders of nyumba
Kumi initiative. The research used
purposeful sampling to get the required
sample of 110 from the target population of
321: The study espoused social
disorganization theory on the theoretical
review. Baseline data was gathered by use of
both questionnaire and interviews while
secondary data included data from previous
studies. The study was carried out within
Kakamega town Kakamega County, Kenya.
The data was analyzed using SPSS model
and presented through, pie charts, graphs
and tables. The study sought to generate
baseline data which can later be used to
evaluate the accomplishment of how
community’s involvement can help in
preventing and mitigating crime rates
within Kakamenga County, Kenya and the
world at large. The research study
established that the community policing
committee did not fully communicate
policing techniques to the players in crime
prevention effort. This could be the reason
why the crime rate is still high in Kakamega
town despite the presence of community
policing forums. The study also found out
that majority of the respondents felt that
community policing techniques were not
effectively employed in combating crime.
The study recommends that there should be
capacity building of the community policing
stakeholders in order to match skills with the
dynamics of crimes in this contemporary
days
Description
Article
Keywords
community policing, crime prevention, Kakamega County, Kenya
Citation
Karuri, J. G., & Muna, W. (2019). Effects of community policing on crime prevention in Kakamega County, Kenya. International Academic Journal of Law and Society, 1(2), 312-327.