Alternative Approach to Security Management in Nigeria: The Imperative for Community Policing in Crime Control

IntroductionCommunity policing as the name suggests implies community partnership in crime control.The philosophy of community policing is anchored on the idea that crime control should be a collaborative effort of the relevant security outfit and the local community involved.In essence there should be some level of relationship between the police and the citizens in the vital area of intelligence gathering.This is based on the idea that no one understands the security needs and challenges of the community better than its residents.Community policing was introduced as part of a broader set of police reforms in 2004.According to Okiro (2007) in Okeshola (2013),' the transition from traditional policing to community policing is a global phenomenon and the Nigeria police cannot be an exception.Indeed, community policing as a philosophy and practice is a veritable vehicle for police reforms.According to (The Dawn Newspaper, 2011) on 27th April, 2004, community policing was formally launched throughout Nigeria.It was to represent a clear-cut departure from the traditional system of policing, that was reactive and incident based, to a problem -solving oriented policing that is proactive with the community as the cornerstone of policing objectives (Abdulrahaman, 2007).What was the cornerstone of these reforms?Training of officers in some strategic areas of conflict Resolution and the Management of Public Order, Management of the Recommended Intelligence Model and Intelligence Analysis, Management of Community Safety etc.However, despite the above, community policing in Nigeria has not taken off.The Nigerian police has not made a significant effort at earning public trust and even collaborating with them for the purpose of crime control.Several studies have shown this to be the case.Damilola (2017) in a study of public perception of police activities in Nigeria has shown that the Nigerian police force continues to be viewed with suspicion and mistrust.This is as a result of the fact that they are often engaged in sharp practices to extort money from unsuspecting public members, illegal road blocks in the pretense of checking crime, harassment of armless public, extra judicial killing and indiscriminate arrest wanton illegal detention of their victims.Obarisiagbon and Omagie (2018:65) in a study on Public Perception of the Role of the Nigeria Police Force in Curbing the Menace of Kidnapping in Benin Metropolis, Southern Nigeria: A Criminological Study stated that 'there is a very poor public perception of the police'.This poor perception and continued suspicion of police activities goes further to affirm the notion that the Nigerian police force has not mad that significant leap towards being a community centered agency that can effectively with the local communities to combat crime.Criminality in Nigeria continues to rise both in scale and dimensions.In addition to the Boko Haram insurgency in Northern Nigerian to the ubiquitous armed robbery attacks across the country, Nigerians now have to deal with the problems of constant kidnappings, banditry and herdsmen-farmers clashes.Kidnapping has now become a multi-billionnaira industry as hardly a day goes by without reports of people being kidnapping from the highways or from their homes