Publication: Community policing and security enhancement in Gasabo district, Rwanda
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2024-07
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Mount Kenya University
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Abstract
Community policing (CP) is readily accepted as the new face of security enhancement in most
parts of the world including Europe, United State of America, Australia, Asia, South America and
Africa. In Rwanda, the aftermath of 1994 genocide against Tutsi, the security situations were
critical and the government adopted mechanisms such as community policing as a strategy for
security enhancement. However, Rwanda still struggles with insecurity challenges despite the
introduction of community policing. This examination sought to assess community policing in
security enhancement in Gasabo District, Rwanda. The specific objectives were: to determine
influence of problem solving, police-citizen collaboration, citizen sensitization, information
sharing, and peers counseling on security enhancement in Gasabo District, Rwanda. Three
theories guided the study, that is, broken windows, securitization and social disorganization
theory. It adopted mixed methodology approach and the concurrent triangulation design. The
study targeted approximately 139,358 household heads of Gasabo District, 73 Community
Policing Committee (CPC) chairpersons, 15 Community Liaison Officers, and 260 Police Officers.
The study sampled 576 household heads for quantitative data whereas the CPC chairpersons,
Community Liaison Officers, Police Officers and Opinion leaders were used for qualitative data.
Multistage sampling technique was used to select the participants. Questionnaire, interview
guides and discussion guides were used to collect data. Piloting of the questionnaire was done
using 10% of the sample size. Reliability of the questionnaire was tested by Cronbach Alpha. The
coefficient value used was 0.7. To ensure validity of the questionnaire, it was reviewed by the
supervisors. Validity was also checked using factor analysis. Trustworthiness of the interview and
discussion guides were ensured using both dependability and credibility. For dependability, the
researcher ensured that every step of the process was clear, while credibility was ensured
through use of appropriate research methods. SPSS software version 25.0 was used to analyze
the data. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage,
mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (regression analysis), which was used to
determine the relationship between the factors of the research. Qualitative data from the
interview guides was analyzed thematically and presented in narratives. The findings indicated
that separately, problem solving, police-citizen collaboration, citizen sensitization, information
sharing, and peers counseling had a positive and significant influence on security enhancement.
Further, results indicated that jointly, community policing components explain 46.4% of security
enhancement variability. The thematic analysis findings revealed that participants supported the
role of community policing in security enhancement. Further, inferential statistics revealed
similar outcome that a positive and significant association exists between community policing
components and security enhancement. The study concluded that the most significant predictor
of security enhancement was peers counseling, followed by problem solving, followed by
information sharing, followed by citizen sensitization and lastly police citizen collaboration. The
study recommended the need for RNP to strengthen the community policing components.
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Keywords
Community policing, Security enhancement, Peers counseling, Police-citizen collaboration