BUILDING SUPPORT FOR COMMUNITY POLICING; CHALLENGES AND IMPLICATIONS FOR NATIONAL SECURITY IN NIGERIA

This study sought to determine ways effective public support could be harnessed for community-policing project in order to assist the police to maintain security and work harmoniously with the public. Specifically, it sought to find out the extent the public is aware of the existence of community policing security project, its perceived effectiveness, possible challenges and likely support it requires to function as well as the envisaged implications for national security in Nigeria. A sample of 1000 Adult citizens drawn from Abia, Anambra, Enugu and Imo States in south east Nigeria using stratified and purposive sampling techniques were used for the study. Data was collected with the use of a 25-item Questionnaire titled. “Questionnaire on building effective support for community-policing for National security in Nigeria” (QBESCIN). This was complemented with focus group discussion sessions with police officers in the selected states. The instrument was validated by experts and appropriately tested for reliability. Percentages were employed in analyzing data. Findings among other things revealed that majority of the respondents are to a large extent aware of the existence of community-policing project even though certain related challenges such as resistance to change, lack of information/publicity, poor public-police relations etc seem to confront its viability. Correspondingly, it was unanimously agreed by respondents that community policing needed moral, financial, motivational and enlightenment support to work effectively. The implications for national security were identified in form of the need for better police-public relations, public mobilization and participation etc which are deemed strategic for effective performance of the police. These findings and implications were discussed and appropriate recommendations made on how community-policing could be used to support police operational effectiveness in south-east Nigeria