Impact of Community Members’ Attitudes on Community Policing in Lurambi Sub-County, Kenya

Abstract

The successful implementation of community policing in any place rests on police-citizen interactions since it is a cornerstone of community policing. The higher the quality of police-citizen interactions, the higher the chances of thriving community policing implementation if the police department remains committed to supporting.  Maintaining public safety and effective policing is very critical in community policing as that influence strong relationship and mutual trust between community members and the police agencies. Consistency, fairness, and procedural justice are critical elements that help build trust and legitimacy since they provide an opportunity for community-wide conversations about social equity, good relations, inclusiveness, transparency, and policing standards that shape the attitude of community members towards the whole concept of Community Policing.  This study sought to assess the impact of community members’ attitudes on community policing in Lurambi Sub-County, Kenya. The study was underpinned by the social capital theory and the cognitive dissonance theory. Descriptive research design was adopted. The target population was community members in Lurambi Sub-County. The study targeted a sample of 384 community members as primary respondents. Besides, Police Officers and County law enforcement officers involved in community policing participated in the study as key informants. Stratified random sampling was used to select community members, while purposive sampling was used to select informants for the study. Primary data from community members was collected using questionnaires, while interviews and focus group discussions were used to collect secondary data. The study adopted a mixed-methods approach where quantitative and qualitative data were collected and analyzed. Study data were analyzed using the statistical package for the Social Sciences version 27 for windows. Descriptive and inferential statistics were calculated for the quantitative data, while thematic analysis was used to analyze qualitative data. Results of the study revealed a statistically significant positive relationship between the attitude of community members and community policing (r=0.576; P<0.05) and regression analysis revealed an R squared value of 0.352, which implied that 35.2% of the variance on community policing outcomes was a function of community members’ attitudes in Lurambi Sub-County. As a consequence, the study recommended that members of the community members, the police officers, and other stakeholders develop policies that strike a balance and learn to work together in harmony and a manner that will foster trust and openness and shape community attitude towards supporting Community policing activities not only in Lurambi Sub-County but in Kenya and beyond. .

Keywords: Community Members, Attitudes, on Community Policing

DOI: 10.7176/PPAR/13-5-01

Publication date:July 31^st 2023