1.1 Introduction
Police forces were established in response to threats to the social order and dominant interests of the dominant groups. Generally, police bureaucracies are organized to manage, detect, investigate, arrest, detain, prosecute, haras, e.t.c those considered to be dangerous, miscreant and threat to the preservation of the status quo. To enable the police officers to perform their functions diligently, they are granted power to use force and violence atimes. The public resentment against the police powers may be traced to the effect of those powers and authorities as well as their misuse power by the police. The initial hospitality between the police and the public in Nigeria is intense.
As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.
1.2 Background of Study
Section 214 of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria states that “there shall be a Police Force for Nigeria which shall be known as the Nigeria Police Force”. The Nigeria Police Force is the executive arm of the Government and is headed by the Inspector General of Police who is appointed by the President on the advice of the Nigeria Police Council.
The increasing role of the Police has become an important factor in the present day Nigeria. Crime wave has blown to alarming proportion and every citizen endeavors to safeguard the properties of his own seat. In the process, efforts are made by the Police to provide services that in effect cement over some of the cracks in the structure of the society (Bunyard, 1999). Police activities and tasks have expanded and become tougher with changing trend but police objectives have remained unaltered.
To stem the eruption of crime is primary and vital objectives of the police. The activities of uniformed policemen and women patrolling either on foot or by motor vehicle still fear on criminals or confidence into other members of the society. This confidence could be strengthened through public enlightenment, workshops and symposia on crime and its evil effects. Meanwhile, the Nigeria Police Force in their effort to manage crime have adopted some measures, such measures include the use of photographic, machine finger print technicians, forensic scientists, use of animals (e.g. Dogs, camels, horses), formation of special squad to investigate a special kind of crime, community policing a common system of criminal record as well as making on-spot assessment of scenes of incidents and improving general driving behaviour.
All these efforts are geared towards controlling or preventing the increasing rate of extra judicial killings in the country, arm robbery raping, illegal oil bunkering, child-kidnapping, assassination, women/child trafficking, as well as bribery and corruption, and to ensure credible election in the country as was witness in the past elections (2011 Nigeria election). It is pertinent to note that the interest of the writer was first aroused following reports of accusations amongst the citizens, government and the public as to who is responsible for the increasing wave of crime in Nigeria. For this reason, the researcher considers it necessary to evaluate the impact of the Nigeria Police Force in crime management.
Therefore, in Anambra State Police Command where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to evaluate the Impact of the Nigerian Police Force in Crime Management.
1.3 Statement of Problems
Though a greater percentage of Nigerians view the Nigeria Police Force with disclaim often describing them as a motley crowd of lazy. Inefficient corrupt and uniformed men and women. Some Nigerians still believes that the force are tackling the not in the force and repositioning it to effectively carry out its assigned constitutional role of policing the entire nation.
In the course of this research, it was discovered that the police face several number of problems which hinder them from carrying out their job effectively of which if these problems are not addressed, the police will continue to represent danger and a corporate hazard into the generality of Nigerians.
These problems are:
- Poor and irregular payment of salaries and remuneration
- Shortage of arms to carry out duties
- Poor training facilities and short period training
- Illiteracy
- Constant transfer
- Poor motivation
- Fear of superior order/political interference
- Poor Working condition
- Long hours of work
- Tribalism
- Bribery and corruption
- Shortage of staff as compared to the population
1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study
The aim of the study is to evaluate the Impact of the Nigerian Police Force in Crime Management using Anambra State Police Command as a case study. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:
- To identify the problems that tends to make the police less effective
- To educate the police more on their roles and the importance of effective crime management.
- To find out if ethical climate will jointly influence the attitude to work of officers in the Nigeria police force.
- To proffer solutions to the above stated problems in section 1.3.
1.5 Research Questions
The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:
- Is the relationship between the police and the public cordial?
- Do the police have adequate arms and well trained personnel to fight crime and criminals?
- Do the police organize a comprehensive training programme conducive for qualitative policing?
- Do the police investigate a crime report before making arrest?
- The statement that a suspect is a criminal is it true or false?
- Do the police have enough rooms for prisoners?
1.6 Research Hypothesis
In order to pursue the objective of this study, the following generalized statements have been designed to guide and aids in obtaining the result for the experiment to be conducted. For this work, the null hypothesis will be represented with H0 while the alternative hypothesis will be represented with hypothesis H1.
Hypothesis I
- H0: Sufficient training and crime fighting facilities do not lead to effective and efficient crime management by the Nigeria Police Force.
- H1: Sufficient training and crime fighting facilities lead to effective and efficient management by the Nigeria Police Force.
Hypothesis II
- H0: Discharged criminal do not change for good after experiencing prison conditions.
- H1: Discharged criminals do change for good after experiencing prison conditions.
1.7 Significance of Study
This research work will be of immense benefit to the Nigeria Police Force in particular and to the general public (Nigerians). It will also help the authorities of the Nigeria Police Force to know more about their roles, their problems and some suggested solutions to their problems.
Government will also find this research useful as it will help them to know the areas in which they should offer adequate help to the police 80 as to effectively carry out their constitutional roles.
In addition, students and lecturers will also benefit from this research work, as it will help them, in making research about the police. The citizens will also be able to know the importance of supporting the police especially as it concerns giving them information about criminal and criminal hideouts.
1.8 Scope of the Study
This research work covers and is centered on an evaluation of the impact of the Nigeria Police Force in crime management. (Anambra State Police Command), with a view to evaluating the performance of the Nigeria Police Force in crime management in Anambra State in particular and Nigeria in general.
1.9 Limitations of the Study
During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:
- Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
- Establishment Policies: Establishment policies posed a serious limitation as most staffs are not ready to release information needed for this project work. There were lots of information needed from the staffs of this establishment to enhance the study which took them time to release or they did not release at all for security purposes, hence the scope was reduced.
- Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
- Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
- Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).
1.10 Definition of Terms
Police: is a department of government that is responsible for the preservation of public order, detection of crime or enforcement of criminal and civil law. It is an organization of which its personnel’s are charge with the responsibility for enforcement and other maintenance in society.
Community Policing: Is a philosophy and an organizational strategy that promotes a new partnership between people and their police. It is based on the premises that both the police and community work together to identify problems such as crime, the fear of crime and social and physical and disorder with the goal of improving overall quality of life in the community.
Crime: Crime is an intentional action in violation of the criminal law (statutory and case law) committed without defense or excuse and is penalized by the state as felony or misdemeanor. Any act which is socially injurious and is punished by the state, regardless of the type of punishment.
Crime Control: Crime control involves the idea of solving crime problems, arresting suspects and processing and incapacitating offenders.
Problem Oriented Policing: Is a procedure that requires police officers, in conjunction with the community to identify problems in the neighborhoods, to list possible solutions; even those that go far beyond the resources of the police department, and then put to the best solution into practice to resolve the problem or conditions.
Crime Rate: Is a measure of the incidence of crime expressed as the number of crimes per unit of population or some other base.
Crime Prevention: Is a pattern of attitudes and behavior directed both at reducing the threat of crime and enhancing the sense of safety and security to positively influence the quality of life and to develop environments where crime cannot flourish.
Beats: are small areas or zones of which police officers are delegated with responsibility of policing those areas.
