Pol

i
ceandPol
i
cing:
AGui
def
orBegi
nner
s

byHal
i
mashadi
aSul
aimanLaoy
eEsq

Abst
ract

Thisjour
nalprovi
desasi mpli
fi
edunderst
andingofpoliceandpoli
cing,
focusi
ngont hei
ror
igi
ns,
functi
ons,powers,andchall
engesi
nmoder nsociet
y.Itservesasaguideforst
udentsand
beginner
sincriminology
,lawenfor
cement,andsocialscienceswhowishtograspthe
foundati
onalconceptsofpoli
cingi
nNigeri
aandbey ond.

I
ntr
oduct
ion

Theconceptofpolici
ngisasoldashumansoci ety
.Everyorganizedcommuni tyrequir
essome
for
m ofregulat
ionandprotect
iontoensurepeace,or
der,andjustice.Thepol i
ceserveast he
for
malinsti
tuti
onresponsi
bleformaint
aini
ngthesevalues.I
nNi geria,theNigeri
aPol i
ceForce
(NPF)i
st hepri
mar yl
awenf or
cementagencychargedwi t
hthepr eventionanddet ecti
onof
cri
me,theprotect
ionofli
vesandpropert
y ,
andtheenforcementofal l
lawsandr egulati
ons.

Meani
ngofPol
i
ceandPol
i
cing

Poli
cerefer
stotheorgani
zedbodyofof
fi
cer
sempower
edbyt
hest
atet
oenf
orcet
hel
aw,
ensurepubl
icsafet
y,andmaint
ainor
der
.

Pol
icing,
ontheotherhand,i
stheprocessoractofcar
ryi
ngoutt
hosedut
ies.Whi
l
ethepol
i
ce
ar
et hepeopl
e,pol
ici
ngistheacti
vi
ty.

Forexample,whenpol
iceof f
icer
spatrolaneighborhood,i
nvestigatecri
mes,orarr
estsuspect
s,
theyareengagi
nginpoli
cing.Inabroadersense,poli
cingal
soi ncludescommunityeffor
ts,
such
asv i
gil
ant
egroupsorneighborhoodwatchsy stemsthatassistinmai nt
aini
ngsecuri
ty.
Hi
stor
ical
Dev
elopmentofPol
i
cing
Theori
ginofmoder
npolici
ngcanbetr
acedtoSirRober
tPeel
,whoest
abli
shedt
heMet r
opoli
tan
Pol
iceServi
cei
nLondonin1829.Hi
sphil
osophyemphasiz
edcri
meprevent
iont
hroughvi
sibl
e
pat
rol
srathert
hanpuni
shmentaft
ercr
imesoccur.

I
nNi geria,t
hehistor
yofpolicingbeganwi t
hlocaltr
adit
ional
guardsandcoloni
alconstabl
es.
Thefirstformalpoli
ceor
gani zati
onwasest abli
shedin1861inLagos.Overti
me,regi
onalpol
ice
for
ceswer ecr
eatedunti
ltheywer emer gedin1966t of
ormt heNiger
iaPol
iceForce(NPF)
underthecommandoft heInspect or
-GeneralofPol
ice.

Funct
ionsoft
hePol
i
ce

Themai
ndut
iesoft
hepol
i
cei
ncl
ude:

1.Cr
imePr
event
ionandDet
ect
ion:
Thr
oughpat
rol
s,i
ntel
l
igencegat
her
ing,
andi
nvest
igat
ion.

2.Pr
otect
ionofLi
feandPr
oper
ty:
Ensur
ingci
ti
zensandt
hei
rbel
ongi
ngsar
esaf
e.

3.Enfor
cementofLawsandRegul
ati
ons:
Arr
est
ingof
fender
sandensur
ingcompl
i
ancewi
th
stat
utor
yprov
isi
ons.

4.Mai
ntenanceofPubl
i
cOr
der
:Managi
ngpr
otest
s,t
raf
fi
c,andci
vi
ldi
stur
bances.

5.Communi
tySer
vice:
Assi
sti
ngi
nemer
genci
es,
disast
ers,
andpubl
i
ceducat
ion.

Pr
inci
plesofPol
i
cing

Accor
dingt
oSi
rRober
tPeel
’
spr
inci
ples,
eff
ect
ivepol
i
cingi
sbasedon:

Publ
i
cAppr
oval
:Thepol
i
cemustgai
nthet
rustandcooper
ati
onoft
hepeopl
e.

I
mpar
ti
alSer
vice:
Pol
i
ceshoul
dser
vewi
thoutbi
asorcor
rupt
ion.

UseofMi
nimum For
ce:
Onl
ynecessar
yfor
ceshoul
dbeused
Ty
pesofPol
i
cing

1.Communi t
yPol
i
cing:
Apar
tner
shi
pbet
weent
hepol
i
ceandt
hecommuni
tyt
osol
vepr
obl
ems
col
lect
ivel
y.

2.Par
amili
tar
yPol
ici
ng:
Str
ict
,command-
basedoper
ati
ons,
oft
enseeni
nri
otcont
rol
and
count
er-
ter
rori
sm.

3.I
ntel
l
igence-
LedPol
i
cing:
Useofdat
aandanal
ysi
stopr
edi
ctandpr
eventcr
ime.

4.Probl
em-
Ori
entedPol
i
cing:
Focusesoni
dent
if
yingandaddr
essi
ngspeci
fi
ccausesof
recur
ri
ngcr
imes.

Chal
l
engesofPol
i
cingi
nNi
ger
ia

Despi
tet
hei
mpor
tanceofpol
i
cing,
sev
eral
issueshi
nderi
tsef
fect
iveness:

1.
Inadequat
efundi
ngandpoorl
ogi
sti
cs

2.
Cor
rupt
ionandl
ackofaccount
abi
l
ity

3.
Poort
rai
ningandwel
far
eofof
fi
cer
s

4.
Humanr
ight
sabuses

5.
Weakcommuni
tyt
rustandcooper
ati
on

Thesechal
l
engesoft
enresul
tinl
owpubl
i
cconf
idencei
nthepol
i
cesy
stem,
maki
ngcr
ime
prev
enti
onmoredif
fi
cul
t.

8.TheFut
ureofPol
i
cing

Modernpolici
ngisshift
ingtowar dstechnology
-dri
venandci t
izen-
focusedapproaches.Theuse
ofsurvei
l
lancecameras, for
ensicscience,andarti
fi
ci
al i
ntel
li
genceistransfor
minglaw
enfor
cementgloball
y.ForNi ger
ia,ref
ormsemphasi zingtrai
ning,t
ransparency
,andcommuni t
y
engagementarecrucialforrest
or i
ngpubli
cconf i
dence.
Concl
usi
on

Poli
cingr emainsanessent ialfuncti
oninanysoci
etythatvaluespeace,j
usti
ce,andorder
.For
beginners,understandingthateffecti
vepol
ici
ngdependsnotonl yonlawsandweaponsbutal so
ontrust,professi
onalism,andf air
nessiskey.Awell
-i
nformed, community-
ori
ented,
and
accountablepol i
ceforceist hefoundati
onofasafeandj ustsociet
y.

Ref
erences

1.Ni
ger
iaPol
i
ceAct
,2020.

2.Peel
,R.(
1829)
.Pr
inci
plesofLawEnf
orcement
.London:
HomeOf
fi
cePubl
i
cat
ions.

3.Al
emi
ka,
E.E.O.(
2010)
.Pol
i
ceandPol
i
cingi
nNi
ger
ia:
AnOv
erv
iew.

4.Dambazau,
A.B.(
2012)
.Cr
imi
nol
ogyandCr
imi
nal
Just
ice.I
badan:
Spect
rum Books.

5.Uni
tedNat
ionsOf
ficeonDrugsandCri
me(
UNODC)(
2018)
.HandbookonPol
i
ce
Account
abi
li
ty,
Over
sightandI
ntegr
it
y.