Community policing and crime prevention: challenges and prospects at hosanna town

Abstract

The purpose and the significance of this study is to investigate and understand the, challenges and prospects of community policing in crime prevention endeavor in Secha Duna sub city of Hossana town administration. The study would be helpful for community policing implementers and for those needs to support community policing crime prevention activities in the sub city. The study used both primary and secondary data. The data generated through areas with specific reference to questionnaire for households and police, Key Informant Interview (KII) and Focus Group Discussion (FGD). This was supplemented by secondary data collected from different published and unpublished sources. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches were employed in analyzing the data collected from different sources. A total of 381 Sample respondents were used. The study area was purposively selected and community policing and site were selected through simple random sampling. Finally, out of the total 8250 households, 377 households had responded, of which 281 males and 90 females. The community policing in crime prevention is positively accepted by 66 percent respondents and most of them replied as crime was reduced in Seche Duna sub city. The most common challenges in the implementation of community policing crime prevention in Seche Duna sub city were; peoples who hides criminals, presence of many illegal chat chewing and other drug use houses, the existence of abundant local and modern liquor houses, anarchic situation in the night clubs, corrupt police officials, insufficient number and lack of trained police force, rural urban migration and extreme poverty. Seche Duna sub city Administration and other concerned governmental or NGOs should coordinate an effort to alleviate extreme poverty and creating job opportunities in the sub city by providing continuous in-service training, deliver all necessary and enough logistics and ensure the active participation of all members of the police to avoid corruption committed by its some members and do its best effort in making criminals to be punished by court of law.