Community Policing Practices in Harar City: A Critical Analysis

Abstract

Community policing has attracted increasing attention as a strategy to improve public security. The adoption and implementation of community policing are expected to bring a paradigm shift in tackling crime and anti-social behaviors. Despite the expected roles and benefits of the strategy in maintaining community security, the number of crimes committed and insecurity situations are increasing at an alarming rate in the study area. The purpose of this study was, therefore, to critically analyze the community policing practices in Harar City, Ethiopia. This study employed an exploratory method with a constructivist grounded theory orientation. It employed a qualitative research approach. The study used both primary and secondary sources of data that were collected using key informant interviews, focus group discussions, non- participant observation, and desk review. The study participants were selected using a purposive sampling technique in a non-random manner based on their experience in community policing practices. The thematic analysis method was applied during the data analysis process. Ethical issues were considered in this research from beginning to completion. The study revealed that even if police officers have relatively better understanding of CP as compared to community members, CP members in general do not have adequate knowledge regarding the concept of CP and its practical application. It was found that there is a knowledge gap between what community policing is intended to be in theory and how it is implemented in practice. Thus, most of the CP members are practicing the CP initiatives without having a solid understanding of the theoretical and practical aspects of the program. It was found that the status of police- community relationships and cooperation is neither strong nor weak. This study revealed that community policing does not deepen and cement practical cooperation between the police force and community members to effectively maintain community security. As a result, intimate and strong relationships and cooperation between the police and the community members could not be established yet. The study also indicated that there are no regular and structured community- police forums and that community policing is not effective in establishing strong partnerships and integration with various stakeholders. As this study exhibited, while community policing improved community security after it was adopted during its initial phase, nowadays, it could not reduce crime rates and antisocial behaviors. The study showed that community policing initiatives in Harar City have faced conceptual, practical, socio-cultural, institutional, infrastructural, and political challenges stemming from the community, police organizations, and government agencies. It can be concluded that CP did not create a context within which the police force, community members, and various stakeholders cooperate each other over issues of public security. Also, passing through induction process, this study came up with explanations, or assertion between variables. Finally, as matter of coincidence, the theories which are discovered in this study are more or less similar with the existing community policing theories. The study, therefore, recommends that some tangible actions such as providing training and awareness programs, fostering trust-building activities, supporting community empowerment, establishing regular communication channel and feedback mechanisms, allocating resources, and measuring and evaluating progress should be tailored to create cooperation among stakeholders for the successful practice of community policing for maintaining community security. Finally, this study needs to inform further research endeavors and policy decisions to enhance the community policing initiatives to effectively address security problems in Harar City