Community policing and crime prevention in Emgwen sub-county, Kenya

Abstract

This study focused on community policing as an initiative towards crime prevention in Emgwen Sub-County in Nandi County, Kenya. It was based on the objectives: the effectiveness of community partnership with police and crime prevention in Emgwen Sub County; the perception and attitudes of local people and police officers towards crime prevention; and the effectiveness of capacity building of the members of the community towards crime prevention in Emgwen Sub County. The study used the Broken Windows Theory and the Collective Efficacy Theory as part of theoretical review. The study established why there is still continued crime rates in Emgwen Sub County yet there are policing measures in place. This research used descriptive research design to study the dimensions of CP towards crime prevention. This study used quantitative and qualitative research methodologies. Primary data was gathered using structured questionnaires while existing journals were the main source of written information. The target population was the assistant commissioner, the 3 OCSs, 86 police officers, the 4 chiefs, the 12 assistant chiefs, 45 village elders, 92 nyumba kumi agents and 1 367 adults selected randomly from the nyumba kumi clusters. A sample size of 320 was selected. The assistant commissioner, the Officers in Charge of Police Station, the chiefs and the assistant chiefs formed a sub-sample of key respondents. A pilot study of the research instruments was conducted to check the validity and reliability of the research instrument to be used in the study (Ronald, 2017). The pilot used 5% of the sample size for piloting the study instruments. Lawshe’s formula was used to determine the content validity. Cronbach's Rule of Thumb was used to establish the reliability of the questionnaires by piloting 16 respondents. Data was collected from the key respondents by use of interviewing while questionnaires were administered to the police officers, villager elders, Nyumba Kumi agents and the selected adult residents as the general respondents. The respondents were sampled from all the villages, wards, police stations and nyumba kumi clusters in Emgwen Sub County. Calculation of data into percentages, mean and standard deviations have been used to provide summary and analysis of the data. The quantitative data was analysed by a computer software - Statistical Package for Social Science. The Pearson Correlation analysis was used to check the level of effectiveness of community participation in preventing crimes. The analysed data was presented using frequency tables, line and bar graphs and charts. The qualitative data has been summarized into written notes. The research established that a mutual relationship between the police and the locals, a good perception and attitude towards community policing and capacity building helped to prevent and reduce crimes in Emgwen. This research recommends the government to implement the existing community policing measures, conduct more public awareness campaigns on community policing and enhance capacity building towards all the stakeholders. This research recommends further studies on the state and implementation of capacity building and why there are more crime cases in Emgwen Sub County and other marginalized areas.