An Assessment of Public Perception of Police Response to Crime and Criminality in Anambra State of Nigeria

Abstract

Security of life and property in Nigeria is seriously deteriorating. The members of the public live in fear and have become increasingly uncertain about their safety and security. In recent years, there has been an upsurge in armed robbery, kidnapping, armed militancy, among others, with the police always 'talking tough' but doing little or nothing. This paper focused on the perception of the public on police response to crime cases in Anambra state of Nigeria. Cross sectional survey research design was adopted for the study. Simple random sampling technique was used to select four communities in the state. Purposive sampling technique was also used to select 624 respondents aged 18 years and above while structured questionnaire became the instrument for data collection. Descriptive statistics was employed for data analysis. Findings from the study show that educational attainment of respondents affected their rating of police effort in crime control (p=0.018); place of residence (urban/rural) affected people's perception on the promptness of the police to emergency cases (p=0.000). Further, sex of respondents was found not to be statistically significant with their perception on police-public partnership in crime control in Anambra state. The study therefore recommends formulation and implementation of policies to restructure and reposition the police force to respond adequately to crime.