Police and crime control in Urban Jigawa State, Nigeria (2014–2016)

Abstract

The rise in crime wave in Nigerian urban centres in the wake of the 2015 general elections and 2016 economic recession, undoubtedly accentuated the need for improved security. This study examines the role of the police in controlling crime in urban Jigawa State, Nigeria, from 2014 to 2016. Most previous studies that appraised the role of the police in crime control in Nigeria relied on data from public respondents/participants. However, this study used primary data collected from public and police samples drawn from three purposively selected urban areas of the state. Results indicate that residents are not in the habit of reporting crime to the police. It also reveals that the perception of the effectiveness of the police in crime control in the study area is relatively high as majority of the respondents rated the effectiveness as either good or average. It also found that the crime control capabilities of the police were hampered by inadequate manpower and modern equipment. The study underscores the need for the police as well as the National Orientation Agency to educate the public more on the need to regularly and promptly report criminal activities to the police. It also recommends the prompt charging of cases not resolved in-house at the police level to court, improved police intelligence gathering mechanism and more periodic meetings with different segments of the public to help improve public perception of the police in the study area.