Community Participation on Crime Prevention in Isiolo County, Kenya
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Date
2024-05
Authors
Mugo, Ndung’u Paul
Moi, Edna Jemutai
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
IAJAH
Abstract
Economic prosperity of any nation owes its
growth to myriads of factors such as political,
economic, environmental, and social. Crime
has proved to be a major bottleneck to
economic growth and development as it
causes economic uncertainty, discouraging
long-term investment and new employment
opportunities as well as eroding the rule of
law. The various governments across the
globe have devised ways of curbing crime and
this includes the establishment of police
entities. Past studies have established that
these entities exhibit gaps that have called for
other alternative approaches to crime
prevention. This study focuses on community
participation as an alternative to crime
prevention. It highlighted various crime
prevention strategies with major focus on
community involvement. This study was
guided by objectives which include
determination of how the flow of information
affects crime prevention in Isiolo County,
establishing the extent to which transparency
of security agencies assist in crime prevention
in Isiolo County and investigating the
community engagement in crime prevention
in Isiolo County. It was anchored on Rational
choice theory and Routine activity approach.
The target population consisted of community,
political and religious leaders and the police
officers within Isiolo Sub County. The
respondents for this study comprised of 20
police officers 3 religious’ leaders, 6 group
leaders, 3 national government administrators,
1 local elected leader and 18 community
cluster heads. Data collection was done by use
of questionnaire. The reliability of instrument
was tested using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient
of 0.7 philosophy. The collected quantitative
and qualitative data were analysed using
descriptive statistical tools. The data was
organized into various themes guided by the
objectives of the study. The data was
presented in form of frequency tables. The
findings revealed that information shared by
the community members allows the security
agencies to manage evidence-based,
community safety interventions and examine
their effectiveness. The study concludes that
effect of community participation on crime
prevention is undeniable, with significant
implications for the flow of information,
transparency of security agencies, and
community engagement. Firstly, when
community members actively participate in
crime prevention efforts, the flow of
information between residents and security
agencies improves significantly. The county
government and national government should
establish robust channels for the flow of
information. Communities should be
encouraged to report suspicious activities
promptly, and mechanisms must be put in
place to ensure that this information reaches
relevant authorities efficiently. Establishing
accessible hotlines, online platforms, or
community centers where residents can relay
concerns or observations can greatly bolster
the effectiveness of law enforcement efforts.
Description
Article
Keywords
Flow of Information, Transparency of Security Agencies, Community Engagement and Crime Prevention
Citation
Ndung’u, P. M., & Moi, E. J. (2024). Community participation on crime prevention in Isiolo County, Kenya. International Academic Journal of Arts and Humanities, 1(4), 151-167.