When policemen are strangers

The recent announcement by the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) that the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) plans to recruit 10,000 men should normally be welcomed and greeted with enthusiasm.  Undoubtedly the prevalent rampant crime rate and precarious security situation necessitate urgent improvement in our policing. However caution should be applied in any planned recruitment. In previous […]

The recent announcement by the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) that the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) plans to recruit 10,000 men should normally be welcomed and greeted with enthusiasm.  Undoubtedly the prevalent rampant crime rate and precarious security situation necessitate urgent improvement in our policing. However caution should be applied in any planned recruitment. In previous recruitment exercises individuals with criminal records were absorbed into the force resulting in corruption and dishonesty becoming more widespread and public confidence in the force being diminished. Regrettably in addition to poor caliber lower ranks, the NPF employs outdated policing methods and philosophies. Increasing manpower levels will have little real impact on policing because the most pressing problem with the NPF isn’t the quantity of officers employed, it’s the quality of methods used. Their old style traditional policing is designed to deal with criminals rather than prevent crime. The NPF spends all its time and resources reacting to reported incidences, arresting and prosecuting, while crime prevention takes a back seat.
This focus on military-style “dealing” with criminals is largely responsible for allegations by Human Rights organizations that our police have adopted a “brutal approach to law enforcement” in which extra-judicial killing is an accepted modus operandi and many suspects die in custody or are shot while “trying to escape”.
Lost in all the applause for the planned recruitment and (yet again) planned installation of CCTV, the IGP gave an insight into what effective policing methods are really all about. He made reference to his desire to adopt “modern community policing methods”. Given the shambles in which the force finds itself he will have an uphill task.  Community policing isn’t a modern concept. In 1829 Sir Robert Peel introduced principles to modern law enforcement known as Peelian principles or “community policing” which concentrated on crime prevention. Based upon a philosophy of personalized policing, it’s an alternative to military style reactionary policing which entails the same officers living, patrolling and working in the same area on a permanent basis.
These officers will be known to the community and will work in a proactive partnership with law abiding citizens to identify and solve problems. As it currently stands no citizen in their sane mind will voluntarily go to a police station to report a crime in which they aren’t directly affected. They stand more chance of being apprehended and asked to bail themselves than of being thanked for their efforts! In all truth by living in army style barracks and socializing in police officers mess, our police are alienated from communities. This alienation, evidenced by the fact that they refer to the population as “civilians”, represents the biggest hurdle to effective community policing.  Worse still, morale and patriotism in the force is at an all-time low, and with good reason. We don’t value police officers. They are killed almost daily and never buried with any public ceremony or fanfare.
In decent societies killing a police officer is regarded as the most heinous of crimes because it’s a crime against the whole society. Over here rather than honour them and take care of the bereaved families, embezzlement of police pensions and gratuities and regular protests by police widows are the order of the day. Criminologists assert that few incidences of crime are isolated. Most result from, or are symptoms of, underlying problems. This means they will recur predictably. The crime prevention goal of community policing implies that officers can rest assured of community support in their actions to prevent re-occurrence of crimes. But in Nigeria due to the poor treatment of witnesses, informants and innocent suspects, police have lost support of the public.
There are suggestions that rather than Police “Force” their name should be changed to Police “Service” so as to inculcate both a change of mentality, and modern policing methods. In truth instead of  assisting the public to establish and maintain a safe orderly environment our police feel they are masters not servants. Modern effective policing has changed the role of the police from a static, reactive incident driven bureaucracy to a more dynamic open quality oriented partnership with the community.  Nowdays it’s crucial for officers to feel closely integrated with local citizens and share important community values, beliefs and goals. Their current social isolation creates negative attitudes towards citizens leading to corruption, apathy and resentment. Rather than enforce the law, most police officers feel they are a law unto themselves.
Impunity and open disrespect for seniors is common place. If done properly, the IGP’s proposed community policing is the only means by which both public dissatisfaction with the police and a growing tendency of citizens to resort to self-help can be reduced. Police Barracks and officers messes need to be decommissioned and police made to live and socialize in their communities. Furthermore police powers must be decentralized to serve as a check on the excessive use of police authority.  It makes no operational sense for officers in Abuja to give orders to those hundreds of kilometres away. By failing to adopt community policing and continuously transferring officers around the country, the NPF maintains a defective operational policy.
Quite absurdely they  expect to sucessfully fight crime in situations where the one person  most likely to be a stranger in the area with little local knowledge of the community is the police officer!