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COMMUNITY POLICING AND CRIME REDUCTION IN INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS: A CASE OF KOROGOCHO SLUM, NAIROBI CITY COUNTY, KENYA COMMUNITY POLICING AND CRIME REDUCTION IN INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS: A CASE OF KOROGOCHO SLUM, NAIROBI CITY COUNTY, KENYA

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Abstract

This study was undertaken to research on community policing and crime reduction in informal settlements with reference to Korogocho slums in Nairobi City County, Kenya. The specific objectives were to: find out the types of crimes and determine state security interventions in crime reduction. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. The targeted population was 11090 households in Korogocho as well as key informants in the informal settlements. Simple random sampling technique was employed to select a sample of 384 heads of households from the population. Purposive sampling was utilised to select a sample of 3 key informants that were crucial to the study. Mixed methods (mainly quantitative and qualitative) were employed for data collection and analysis. Qualitative data was analysed thematically while quantitative data was analysed using descriptive statistics mainly frequencies and percentages. This was through the assistance of data analysis software (SPSS). Some of the key findings were that numerous crimes existed in Korogocho but stealing was experienced daily according to 58.5% of the respondents. The study also established that although there were state interventions in crime reductions only 2% and 12% of respondents rate the interventions as excellent and good respectively. Findings from this study were expected to contribute to policy, scholarly works on community policing and crime reduction.
COMMUNITY POLICING AND CRIME REDUCTION IN INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS: A CASE OF KOROGOCHO SLUM,
NAIROBI CITY COUNTY, KENYA
Murefu, M. N., Wamũyũ, T. W., & Ochieng, D. O.
The Strategic Journal of Business & Change Management. ISSN 2312-9492 (Online) 2414-8970 (Print). www.strategicjournals.com
Page: - 575 -
Vol. 6, Iss. 3, pp 575 - 584, August 26, 2019. www.strategicjournals.com, ©Strategic Journals
COMMUNITY POLICING AND CRIME REDUCTION IN INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS: A CASE OF KOROGOCHO SLUM,
NAIROBI CITY COUNTY, KENYA
Murefu, M. N.,1* Wamũyũ, T. W.,2 & Ochieng, D. O.3
1*Candidate, Master of Development Studies, St. Pauls University [SPU], Kenya
2Ph.D, Lecturer, Faculty of Social Sciences, St. Paul’s University [SPU], Kenya
3Ph.D, Lecturer, Faculty of Social Sciences, St. Paul’s University [SPU], Kenya
Accepted: August 21, 2019
ABSTRACT
This study was undertaken to research on community policing and crime reduction in informal settlements with
reference to Korogocho slums in Nairobi City County, Kenya. The specific objectives were to: find out the types of
crimes and determine state security interventions in crime reduction. The study adopted a descriptive survey
research design. The targeted population was 11090 households in Korogocho as well as key informants in the
informal settlements. Simple random sampling technique was employed to select a sample of 384 heads of
households from the population. Purposive sampling was utilised to select a sample of 3 key informants that
were crucial to the study. Mixed methods (mainly quantitative and qualitative) were employed for data collection
and analysis. Qualitative data was analysed thematically while quantitative data was analysed using descriptive
statistics mainly frequencies and percentages. This was through the assistance of data analysis software (SPSS).
Some of the key findings were that numerous crimes existed in Korogocho but stealing was experienced daily
according to 58.5% of the respondents. The study also established that although there were state interventions
in crime reductions only 2% and 12% of respondents rate the interventions as excellent and good respectively.
Findings from this study were expected to contribute to policy, scholarly works on community policing and crime
reduction.
Key Words: Crime Types, State Security Intervention
CITATION: Murefu, M. N., Wamũyũ, T. W., & Ochieng, D. O. (2019). Community policing and crime reduction in
informal settlements: a case of Korogocho Slum, Nairobi City County, Kenya. The Strategic Journal of Business &
Change Management, 6 (3), 575 584.
The Strategic Journal of Business & Change Management. ISSN 2312-9492 (Online) 2414-8970 (Print). www.strategicjournals.com
Page: 576
INTRODUCTION
Community policing is expected to involve members
of the community in policing activities with the
expectation of reducing crime. Braga et al., (2015)
notes that community policing is an old concept that
has been implemented by most governments aimed
at making policing more responsive to community
needs and more important to effectively prevent
crime. Besides, Gill et al., (2014) states that
community policing has been adopted by concerned
communities to address local dispute resolution
needs and enforce behavioural norms of their
members.
According to Sozer et al., (2013) community policing
is emerging as a promising complementary approach
to more traditional forms of policing. They point out
that by bringing the police closer to the people and
developing partner relations with citizens; such an
approach restores trust between civilians and the
police. In addition, it assists in gaining community
support for police reforms especially in settings
where the police services are perceived as brutal,
corrupt and unaccountable.
Ellison and Pino (2012) and Green (2010a) have noted
that within the field of socio-economic development,
community policing has emerged as a popular
government strategy among communities inhabiting
crime prone areas aimed at restoring community
confidence in the police, improve police
responsiveness to crime and as a means to ensure
adherence to human rights and professional
standards. Sembojo, Silla and Musuguri (2016) assert
that community policing is democracy in action. They
explain that it requires the active participation of all
stakeholders such as local government, civic, business
leaders, public, private agencies, residents, churches,
schools and hospitals. Equally, those who share a
concern for the welfare of the neighbourhood should
bear responsibility for safeguarding that welfare.
Elsewhere in South Africa according to Marius &
Johan (2011) community policing emerged following
high incidences of crime and international trends in
community policing. Police management decided to
experiment with community policing as an official
response to the fact that traditional methods of
policing, which depended on the police alone to
maintain law and order, were not achieving the
desired results. Steinberg (2004) reports that the
police in the country are required by law to consult
with local communities. He reports that the
relationship between the police and the community
has undergone considerable change including the
police service being more accessible and closer to
residents, in particular through the institution of
Community Policing Forums (CPFs), and later through
the extension of sector policing. However, Burger
(2007) claims that experts’ reports show that
community policing has been a failure in South Africa.
Some sceptics, including Altbeker (2007), view
community policing as a model that is too all-
embracing and unreliable for countries struggling
with basic governance issues.
In Kenya, Kiprono & Karungari (2016) notes that in
COP initiatives begun taking shape in the early 2000.
This was the time when a blue print for policing
termed “Policing in Democratic Societies” was
adopted by Kenya (Bloom & Currie, 2001). COP
initiative was implemented in Kenya in May 2001
through the establishment of COP units in Nairobi’s
Kibera slum, Ruai, Ziwani and Isiolo (Kiprono and
Karungari, 2016). COP initiatives were rolled out by
the then Commissioner of Police, Maj. General
Hussein Ali and were aimed at incorporating local
community members in ensuring secure
neighbourhoods through crime prevention and
control.
Through this model, security personnel under the
leadership of police station commanders were
required to form security groups comprising of police
officers and civilians, but unfortunately these
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initiatives faced numerous challenges. The Kenyan
Constitution 2010 introduced many reforms, one
being the reformation of the National Police Service
and the integration of Community participation in
security matters. It is against this background that
this study sought to establish the effect of community
policing on crime reduction in informal settlements in
Kenya with specific reference to Korogocho slum in
Nairobi City County.
Statement of the Problem
Following failure by convectional policing strategies
to adequately address crime reduction, contemporary
policing is gaining momentum in most parts of the
world. One of such contemporary initiatives that has
been adopted to deal with crime is community
policing. However, Nadenge (2015) notes that today,
despite the various initiatives including community
policing programs that have been undertaken to
reduce crime especially in the urban informal
settlements, high poverty level and increasing crime
rates have continued to adversely affect their lives.
A study by Oxfam (2009) opined that insecurity and
violence are cited as the major problems that slum
dwellers in Kenya face. Their report affirmed that
two-thirds of residents in slums did not feel safe in
their own neighbourhoods. Similar results yielded
from a survey by World Bank (2010) carried out in
Korogocho and Viwandani that affirmed that crime
and violence were the most serious problems that
they faced. In a bid to enhance security, several
initiatives have been done by the government.
Among the initiatives that forms interest in this study
is community policing. In Kenya, Ruteere, (2011)
argues that community policing was initiated by the
Nairobi Central Business District Association (NCBDA)
in collaboration with Kenya Institute of
Administration (KIA), Safe world and the Ford
Foundation. Kiprono (2007) explains that later, the
government proceeded and established the National
Community Policing Strategy in Ruai. In 2013, nyumba
kumi was then adopted gazetted through a
presidential order of the President of Republic of
Kenya. The initiative was meant to anchor community
policing at the household level in a bid to achieve a
safe and sustainable neighbourhood (Otieno and
Mavole, 2017).
However, despite adoption of community policing
and the nyumba kumi initiative, little impact had
been seen as far as crime reduction is concerned
especially in the informal settlements of Kenya. A
study by Oketch & Mutisya (2012) shows that
Korogocho is still ranked at number 48 out of 49 in
the Nairobi locations’ wealth index with its residents
being afflicted by crime and as a result experiencing
low socio-economic standards exemplified by high
poverty, youth unemployment, school dropouts
among other social indicators. It is in cognizance of
these attendant depravities and vulnerabilities that
exist in Korogocho slum, coupled with the fact that
limited studies had been undertaken in the said area
that this study sought to delve into community
policing and crime reduction in informal settlements
of Kenya with specific reference to Korogocho slum in
Nairobi City County.
The purpose of the study was to examine Community
policing and crime reduction in the informal
settlements of Korogocho slum in Nairobi City
County, Kenya. The specific objectives were:-
Find out the types of crimes in Korogocho slum,
Nairobi City County.
Determine state security interventions in crime
reduction in Korogocho slums, Nairobi City
County.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Personal Construct Theory: The Personal Construct
Theory was developed by Kelly (1967) and it
presupposes that individuals actively interpret reality
and guide their behaviour according to the kind of
reality they construe. Criminal activities within the
slum areas in Kenya are a reality, and different people
look at it from different perspectives. It has been
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argued by Odegi-Awoundo (1993) that crime as a
deviant behaviour that is not considered a serious
threat to group life can be tolerated. The second
category of deviance involves behaviour that is
perceived to threaten the group life and need to be
punished. According to Quinney (1970), crime can be
viewed as people’s behaviour as perceived from
other people’s perspective. Crime can be viewed in
terms of social construction. Sociologists have
examined crime as a human construct. Its definition
comes from individuals and social groups and involves
a complex social and political process that extends
over time. Individuals and groups create crime by
making rules through two models, the consensus and
conflict perspectives. According to Kelly (1967),
personal constructs are retained only as long as they
are believed to be accurate. This implies that when
individuals get new information on a particular issue,
they are likely to use that information to re-evaluate
their constructs. Depending on the strength of the
new information, individuals can retain their
constructs or revise it. Going by this theory therefore,
it is possible to change the constructs of the
community to view any form of crime as a negative
thing and instead adopt community policing as a new
construct for their own benefits. If members of the
community are educated on the concept of
community policing and its accrued benefits, it is
possible for them to adopt and maintain a cordial
relationship with the security agencies in the spirit of
community policing. It is therefore assumed that this
case would apply in the Korogocho slums, Nairobi City
County.
The Path Goal Theory: The Path Goal Theory of
leader effectiveness or Path Goal Model was
developed by House in 1971. The theory states that
leaders’ behaviour is contingent upon the
satisfaction, motivation, and performance of his or
her subordinates. The theory is based on the earlier
work of Martin (1970) in which the leadership
behaviour and followers’ perceptions of the degree to
which following particular behaviour (path) will lead
to a particular outcome (goal). The path-goal theory
assumes that leaders are flexible and that they can
change their style as situation require. The theory
proposes two contingency variables such as
environmental and followers’ characteristics that
moderate leader behaviour outcome relationship
(House and Mitchell, 1975).
Environmental factors determine the type of
behaviour required of a leader if the follower
outcomes are to be maximised. The follower’s
characteristics are the locus of control, experience
and perceived ability (Avolio et al., 2009). Effective
leader clarifies the path to help their followers
achieve goals and make the journey easier by
reducing roadblocks and pitfalls. According to
Northouse (2007) the theory is useful because it
reminds leaders that their central purpose of a leader
is to help subordinate define and reach their goals in
an efficient manner. The main argument of the theory
is that leaders can facilitate the task performance by
showing their subordinate staff how good
performance can be instrumental in shaping an
organisation’s growth. This theory points out that
people are satisfied with their work and work hard if
they believe that their work leads to things that are
highly valued (Shin et al., 2014). This study would
adopt such a view in reference to community policing
as far as the security agencies’ goal is in tandem with
that of the community they serve which is to ensure a
better and peaceful environment. Equally, that the
security agencies portray a behaviour that inspires
their community to collaborate with them.
Empirical Review
Common Types of Crime: Crime remains a challenge
in all countries of the world regardless of whether
developed or developing. However, developing
countries and disorganised societies remain most
vulnerable to crime. It is however important to note
that even in any individual Country, crime is more
prevalent, severe and acute in poor-urban informal
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settlement areas that are popularly known as slums
(SRIC, 2014).
Kimberly and Vaughn (2018) report that the Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI) classifies crime into two
major categories. The first category is what they refer
to as property crime that includes such crimes as:
larceny-theft, burglary, motor vehicle theft and arson.
On the other hand violent crime constitutes forcible
rape, murder, robbery, and aggravated assault. A
study done in four slums in Kenya by SRIC (2014)
identified many forms of crime in the four slums.
However, the study concluded that 84.9% of the
cases of crimes reported in the slums were attributed
to burglary/break-ins (10.7%) robbery (15.6%),
mugging (23.2%) and theft (35.4%). They also
asserted that the remaining 15% constituted of
conning, pick-pocketing, murder and SGBV. In regard
to frequency of crimes, Karuga (2014) noted that 33%
of the crime occurred daily, 24% weekly and 18%
monthly. Few but significant percentage of crime
occurred every four months with a percentage of 9,
and a percentage of 5 every 6 months while a
percentage of 11 once a year.
Crime has mainly been attributed to the youth and
has largely been linked to unemployment levels. For
instance, a study by SRIC (2014) attributed crime in
slum areas of Kenya mainly to youth unemployment,
poverty and engagement of the youth in illicit brews
and drug abuse. The study also highlighted the easy
availability of arms and peer pressure as minor causes
coupled by inadequate crime control by the police
and the community, and also divisive politics.
Similarly, Sana and Okombo (2012) pointed out that
unemployment is posing a great risk to security and
stability in the slums of Nairobi. They claim that
youths took up to two years upon arriving in Nairobi
to get employment. Thus, the idleness and need to
meet basic needs become the push factor to crime.
They affirm that even those who may be lucky to find
some semblance of employment earn so little that
they occasionally engage in crime in order to
supplement their meagre incomes.
State Security Intervention
Action aid (2013) and Casey (2010) state that there is
a growing trend within communities to be involved in
the fight against criminal enterprises due to the
recognition that traditional methods of fighting crime
are proving to be ineffective. Community policing is
defined in part by efforts to develop partnerships
with community members and civic organisations
that represent many of them collectively. It requires
that police engage with the public as they set
priorities and develop their tactics. Effective
community policing requires responsiveness to citizen
input concerning both the needs of the community
and the best ways by which the police can help meet
those needs. It takes seriously the public's definition
of its own problems. This is one reason why
community policing is an organisational strategy but
not a set of specific programshow it looks in practice
should vary considerably from place to place, in
response to unique local situations and
circumstances. Listening to the community can
produce new policing priorities.
According to the U.S Department of Justice,
Community Oriented Policing Services (2014), the
concept of community policing is premised on three
core components that support the principles
underlying community-police relationships. These
include community partnerships, problem solving and
organisational transformation. It is critical that the
community at large and the police come into the
realisation that public safety and crime prevention is
best achieved through collaborative efforts. Norman
and Massoi (2010) have noted that the concept of
community policing is premised on the idea that the
police and the community have to work together to
define and find solutions to a common problem.
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METHODOLOGY
A descriptive survey research design was adopted for
this study. The study was carried out in Korogocho
slum, Nairobi City County in Kenya. According to
Beguy et al., (2015), the population of Korogocho
numbered 27,365 individuals living in 11,090
households by the year 2012. As such, the study
focussed on 384 heads of households found within
Korogocho slum selected from the villages. The study
also targeted key informants that included the area
chief, nyumba kumi initiative chairperson, and the
police. Simple random sampling procedures were
then applied to ensure that a proportionate sample
size of 384 heads of households is proportionately
distributed among the 11,090 households. Purposive
sampling technique was also employed to select 3 key
informants including the nyumba kumi initiative head,
the Officer Commanding Korogocho police station
(OCS) and the chief. The study used a questionnaire
(structured and semi-structured) and a key informant
interview guide in order to obtain the most accurate
and valid responses from the sample that could be
generalised to the entire population. The
questionnaire was made user friendly for the
respondents since many factors could affect the
probability that a respondent would complete a
questionnaire. Secondary data was collected through
review of literature from libraries, on-line and off-line
browsing of international journals and peer reviewed
journals, reports and publications on community
oriented policing and community development
projects in Kenya and in other nations. These
corroborated the information received from
respondents and the key informants. The primary and
secondary data enhanced formulation of useful
recommendations of this study. The collected data
was coded, edited and tabulated to ensure
consistency and completeness. Data analysis involved
establishment of categories, application of these
categories to raw data through coding, and
tabulation. Descriptive statistics were applied to
analyse quantitative data which was done through
the assistance of a Statistical Package for Social
Sciences (SPSS).
RESULTS
Dominant Crimes in Korogocho Slums
The objective of the study was to find out the types of
crimes in Korogocho slum, Nairobi City County. The
research question to which response was made was:
What are the types of crimes in Korogocho slum,
Nairobi City County?
Information was sought from respondents on the
types of crimes that are common in Korogocho slum.
Respondents were to select from a list of crimes the
one they thought to be most common. The study was
able to establish a common trend in the types of
crimes mentioned by respondents. The most common
form of crime was stealing at 39% followed by
mugging at 23%. Other forms of crime such as fraud
and rape were not very common constituting only 1%
and 2% respective. The results showed close
resemblance to a UN Habitat victimization survey
carried out in 2001. The survey established that 37
per cent of all respondents had been robbed in the 12
months preceding the survey, 22 per cent had
experienced theft from their person, 18 per cent had
experienced physical assault, and 29 per cent had
experienced burglary on their property (UN Habitat,
2002).
Respondents were asked to identify who were mainly
involved in crime between men, women and the
youth. Information obtained from respondents
established that 91% of youth were involved in most
of the reported crimes while 6% were committed by
men with only 3% of the crimes reported to have
committed by women. These views were supported
by the Officer Commanding Station who states, “Even
school going children of 15 and 16 years were
involved in crime including armed robberies.” These
results were in resonance with the findings of the
report by SRIC (2014) that states that “90% of crimes
in slum areas are committed by youth aged between
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18 and 30 years.” It is attribute the youth
involvement in crimes to idleness and high rates of
unemployment. Also states that, “the youth find it
difficult to avoid crime for survival.”
The study also sought to establish the frequency of
crimes in the sampled area. Responses from
household heads were analysed and presented in
Table 1.
Table 1: Frequency of Crimes in Korogocho
Frequency of Crime
Freq.
%
Everyday
161
58.5
Weekly
73
26.5
Fortnightly
24
8.7
Monthly
12
4.4
Yearly
5
1.8
Total
275
100.0
Source: Field Data (2019).
From Table 1 above, majority of sampled household
heads (58.5%, n=275) reported that crime happened
on a daily basis in Korogocho while 26.5% said that
crimes occurred weekly. 1.8% of respondents
reported that crimes only happened once per year.
This concurred with a research that was carried out in
Mukuru slums by Karuga in 2014.
Respondents’ views on the concept of Community
policing were that it was the collaboration between
police and the community in combating crime. It was
evident that the key informants, though they differed
in their definitions, had an idea of community
policing. However, 62% of the household heads did
not attempt a definition of the concept of community
policing. In addition, those who attempted to define
it had vague ideas and others none at all. This
supported the findings of a study by Otieno and
Mavole (2017) that pointed out that respondents for
the study did not understand the structure of
Community policing
State Security Intervention Strategies
The research question to which responses were
sought was: What state security interventions for
crime reduction are there in Korogocho slums,
Nairobi City County?
In order to understand the community’s perception
of how the state intervenes in providing security,
respondents were asked whether they experienced
crime before and whether they reported the same to
the police. The responses were articulated in Table 2
below.
Table 2: Crime Reporting in Korogocho
Statement
Yes
No
%
Total
I have experienced crime in the past
202
73
26.5
275
I reported to the police
115
160
58.2
275
Source: Field Data (2019).
Table 2 above indicated that majority of the sampled
residents (73.5%, n=275) had experienced crime in
the past while only 26.5% had not. However, when
the same residents were asked whether they had
reported the said cases to the police, only 41.8%
agreed to have reported while 58.2% said they had
not reported.
Respondents were asked to express their opinion on
why they failed to report crime to the police. The
responses to this question were analysed and the
results are captured. 36%) of the respondents
reported to have failed to report cases to the police
for fear of the police. Accordingly, 34% indicated that
cases earlier reported had not being acted upon.
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Surprisingly, 6% of the respondents did not report
because the case did not involve them. The Officer
Commanding Station affirmed these views by stating,
“There exists a strained relationship between my
officers and members of the public which remains a
great impediment to successful community policing.”
The study also identified some of the interventions by
the State to ensure security and asked sampled
household heads to identify the extent to which they
had been implemented. The respondents’ views were
documented in Table 3.
Table 3: Interventions to Crime Reduction
Source: Field Data (2019).
Table 3 above indicated that respondents only felt
that the government’s intervention was only on a
small extent in most cases. For instance, when
respondents were asked whether the government
has equipped the police well enough to handle crime,
70.5% felt that this had only been done to a small
extent. Most of all the other responses were also
negatively skewed.
Sampled respondents were asked to rate the State’s
effort in security interventions for crime reduction.
Results indicated that most of the respondents
remained negative on efforts being done by the State
in ensuring security of residents in Korogocho. 35% of
respondents rated the government as poor while only
2% rated the State intervention measures as
excellent. However, two key informants that is, the
chief and the Officer Commanding Station remained
non-committal, in rating the government. The chief
for instance claimed that efforts had been made and
strides achieved as far as provision of security was
concerned. However, he did acknowledge the fact
that there were challenges that efforts were being
made to address them.
CONCLUSIONS
In reference to the first objective, the study sought to
find out the types of crimes in Korogocho slum,
Nairobi City County. It established several forms of
crimes that also range in magnitude and frequency of
occurrence. For instance, petty crimes such as
stealing (39%) were more frequent, happening daily
and the more serious ones such as rape (2%) and
murder (4%) happening weekly and monthly
respectively. These views of this study were in
tandem with that conducted by the Security Research
and Information Centre (SRIC) 2014, regarding the
range in magnitude of crimes and their frequency.
The fact that the respondents identified the
magnitude and frequency of the crimes, means that
awareness has been created regarding what crimes
are in their area. This therefore was the starting point
for the Security agencies and the public to collaborate
towards strategies that will assist in crime reduction.
The study sought to determine the state security
interventions in crime reduction in Korogocho slums,
Nairobi City County. In reference to this, the study
made a conclusion that although respondents
acknowledged some form of intervention and
measures that have been implemented; the residents
STATEMENT
Large Extent
Small Extent
Freq.
%
Freq.
%
There are police patrols to ensure safety
125
45.5
150
54.5
The police are helpful when crime is reported
116
42.2
159
57.8
The police are well equipped to handle crime
81
29.5
194
70.5
The police involve residents in fighting crime
74
26.9
201
73.1
Police don’t ask for bribes before responding to crime
55
20.0
220
80.0
The government has established many police stations
133
48.4
142
51.6
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of Korogocho still found them inadequate to
guarantee them security. Responses on State
interventions in crime reduction included doing
patrols, equipping the police, establishing police
stations were not well rated. For instance, the
respondents rated the police intervention in crime
reduction as poor with 70.5% of the respondents
commenting that police were only equipped to deal
with crime to a small extent. The respondents also
highlight the underlying causes as to why the public is
not actively engaged in community policing. The
responses range from personal dissatisfaction in the
way former reported crimes had been acted upon,
fear of the police, or victimisation for reporting a
crime or attack from the perpetrators. Some of
findings tallied with those of a study by SRIC (2014),
where the respondent from Mukuru, one of the slums
in Kenya, attributed their lack of reporting of crimes
to unjust justice system. Equally, they shared that the
fear that if they report they can be attacked by a
perpetrator of the crime. Also, the cited that they
failed to report a crime to the police because of their
unfriendly nature of police and also that it was
impossible to recover lost goods even after alerting
the police. This highlights the need for the security
agencies and the residents of Korogocho to meet and
come up with a strategic plan to reduce crime in their
area. From these responses there was an indication
that for community policing to be effective, the
security agencies in Kenya have to package
community policing differently than is currently done
in order to earn the confidence of the citizens.
Based on the findings outlined, the following
recommendations were:
The security agencies in Korogocho should
examine the most prevalent types of crime in
order to deal with them first. The study
established that the most common types of
crimes in Korogocho involve simple stealing to
muggings. The police should intensify patrols in
areas where and when these are more prevalent
which would reduce such incidences. The county
government should also put up lighting in the
slums to reduce incidences of mugging especially
at night.
The study established that government
interventions were not adequate to ensure
successful implementation of community
policing. The recommendations therefore are
that the government ensures that there is a clear
framework for the operations of community
policing initiatives. In line with this, the
government should also ensure that proper
funding is extended to community policing to
make it sustainable. The funding should go
towards purchasing, fuelling and maintaining
police vehicles to enhance patrols and probably
extend some token to security volunteers.
This study acknowledged that it was not an end in
itself. Therefore recommended for further studies the
following areas:
Comparative studies should be done where
community policing may have worked to
ascertain what differences exist.
Studies should also be conducted in rural areas
since there are emerging serious forms of crime.
Studies are also recommended to look into the
role of the religious leaders and educational
institutions in crime reduction.
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Community policing helps make neighbourhoods safe
Action aid (2013). Community policing helps make neighbourhoods safe, 21 st February 2013.