NIGERIA POLICE FORCE

TOWARD COMMUNITY SAFETY:

RETHINKING STRATEGIES FOR
TRANSFORMING THE NIGERIA POLICE.

DCP AUSTIN I. IWAR

DC COMMUNITY POLICING
 RETHINKING STRATEGIES

OUTLINE OF PRESENTATION:
1. INTRODUCTION;
2. BACKGROUND;
3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY;
4. ANALYSIS;
5.RECOMMENDATIONS;
6. ACTION PLAN.
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INTRODUCTION:
 Policing in Nigeria – Colonial style, protecting govt rather
than people; protecting trading interests of colonial govt;

 answerable to govt not people; repressive arm of govt;

remains outside the community;

after independence – govts both military & civilian continued

to use the police for its benefit.

Historical characterization of Nigeria Police Force – brutal,

corrupt & incompetent;
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BACKGROUND;
Contextualizing the transformation
Nigeria’s transition to democracy – 1999

police is critical in sustaining the transition;

as gatekeepers of the criminal justice system;

Any reform must take into consideration the strategic role of

the police in facilitating & perpetuation democratic values,
practices & creating safer communities;
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BACKGROUND;
Contextualizing the transformation
 the reality of the situation:

Police has no understanding of how to

intervene & provide effective safety & security;

Effective police performance constraint by;

 weak institutional infrastructures
 Poor & arbitrary management
 Inadequate accountability framework
 Poor incentives
 Widespread corruption
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BACKGROUND;
Contextualizing the transformation
 Current crime situation:
 Rise in terrorist activities
 Rise in kidnap-for-ransom activities
 Communities feel alienated & unprotected

 Crime & victimization Survey (2007- 2009)

 47.1% victims of crime
 38.9% fearful of crime
 34.3% police not performing
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BACKGROUND:
 Impetus for transformation predicated on:
 Increasing crime rates
 Increasing fear of crime & victimization
 Dissatisfaction with police performance

 Current Police Reform (2007) aimed at creating:

 Professionally efficient, and
 accountable police
 Responsive to community needs
 Obeys the rule of law
 Community Policing work with DFID/British Council
 2002-2010: SJG
 2011-2014: J4A
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BACKGROUND:
Transformation Frameworks:
At Strategic level
Strategic guidance & policy decisions
Motivation & creating a sense of urgency
Identifying organizational & cross-cutting issues
At tactical & operational Level
Coordination
Ensure effective implementation
Development of community safety partnerships
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BACKGROUND:
Transformation Frameworks:
Streamlining institutional mechanism – processes,
procedures, systems, manuals; fortify institutional capacity,
strengthen police stations;
strengthening institutional mechanism for recruitment;
develop & instill a culture of public accountability amongst
personnel & the development of performance frameworks;
 development of policy & institutional frameworks that
promote sustainable community safety partnerships.
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BACKGROUND:
Vision:
“to be a well-trained, knowledgeable, community
focused, proficient and disciplined police service,
capable of meeting the security and safety needs of a
vast, dynamic and democratic society, whilst
strengthening the Rule of Law”
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RESEARCH QUESTION:

 What are the strategies needed to transform the

Police toward providing for Community Safety? and

 How will these strategies be implemented?”

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: Mixed-method research
 SWOT Analysis
 Mckinsey 7S
 Stakeholder Analysis
 Best Practice Approach
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ANALYSIS: Results
 the NPF has weak internal structures, processes, systems and
procedures, most of which are outdated and need to be
restructured in order to set the stage for Community Safety;

 due to poor training, police officers lack basic skills to do

their work. This has resulted in low professionalism and poor
service delivery;

 no consistency, interconnectedness and alignment in all the

org. components to enable effective reform
 the subtle manipulation of political class to police work. This
is further complicated by corruption.
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Recommendations: What needs to be done
 Organizational restructuring of the NPF;
 Creating a vision for community safety;
 Conducting awareness and sensitization activities for police and
stakeholders; and educating the entire police staff about the
importance of community safety;
 Developing recruitment, retention and performance development
strategies;
 Promoting a professional and sustainable workforce;
 Developing strategies, systems and processes to achieve the
vision;
 Building support for community safety through partnership
development.
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STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES:
To examine barriers-policies, procedures, culture – for community safety;
To develop policies & ensure devolution & decentralization of decision-making
structures & empower junior officers;
To initiate policy reforms in human resource development and improve the human
resources management systems;
To formulate and implement a National Community Safety Policy and Strategy
(NCSPS);
To initiate reforms in rules and procedures in the conduct of police operations;
To provide police stations with the appropriate work tools and strengthen crime
research to support more effective crime management operations
To initiate the development of neighborhood policing policies and practice guide;
Design new deployment patterns
To carry out awareness and sensitization activities for police personnel;
To conduct sensitization and awareness training for partners on the values of
community safety.
 
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STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES
To create alternative occasions for meetings and exchanges of views such as: police
open days; visits to schools; invitations to community groups to police stations;
information campaigns, among others;
To build community support through Partnership activities
To develop a workforce modernization programme & that the workforce has the
skills and resources to deliver the range of policing services necessary in Policing;
To design a new performance management structures;
To develop new reward systems/policy for effective performance.
To conduct training & mentoring of officers
To design new transformational leadership framework;
To develop media & communication strategy;
To develop co-operation with the media, including guidelines for media contacts,
creating clearly defined roles for spokespersons and providing media training for
officers;
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ACTION PLANS
Objective Action Timeframe Responsibility Measurement

1 To examine barriers-policies, procedures, culture The Planning dept to hold focus group meetings to will 6 Months Officer in-charge Report of & No. of barriers
– for community safety; identify & evaluate all barriers to CS; Community policing identified;
(planning dept) & Policy documents developed to
Work with the planning & admin depts. to evaluate Officer in-charge deal with them;
current policies & procedures; Training (Training dept) No of problem solving manuals
developed & piloted.

2 To develop policies & ensure devolution &
decentralization of decision-making structures &
empower junior officers;
Work with all depts. to conduct sensitization for senior 1 Year Officer in-charge Level & No of sensitization
officers on the need for decentralization of decision making community policing exercises carried out;
powers; Report of sensitization of
senior officers;
Work with admin dept to define parameters for Policy document defining the
empowerment of junior officers; parameters & level autonomy
in decision-making.

3 To initiate policy reforms in human resource Work with admin, planning & budget depts to evaluate 1 Year Officer in-charge Report of evaluation of HR;
development and improve the human resources HR; Community Policing No. of policies developed for
management systems; Develop new HR systems & policies; (planning dept) HR development; report of
evaluation of HR

4 To formulate and implement a National Conduct workshops on community safety, crime 6 Months Officer in-charge Reports of & no. of workshops
Community Safety Policy and Strategy (NCSPS); prevention; community policing held with community
Work with select community reps (PCRC), MoPA & (planning dept) members, PCRC & MoPA;
develop NCSPS; Report of meetings & Strategy
document developed for
Community Safety;

5 To initiate the development of neighborhood Conduct workshops & work with community reps, local 6 Months Officer in-charge No of workshops & meetings
policing policies and practice guide; Design new councils to develop NP policing policies & practice guide; community polcing; held with community reps;
deployment patterns OPS & Planning depts. to develop guidelines for   NP policy document produced;
demarcating neighborhoods & guidelines for NP policing   Guidelines for neighborhood
teams work; Officer in-charge Beats demarcation produced;
OPS & Planning depts. to develop new guidelines & Patrols (OPS dept) Guidelines for deployment
deployment patterns; patterns developed.
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