Crime “a crime is held to be

Crimehas always existed from the beginning of time. From the beginning of thenineteenth century, three broad perspectives have contributed to theexplanation of crime.

Early in the century, crime was thought to be a productof urban squalor, poor parenting and poverty. Crime today is a major problem ofboth public and private concern. Crimeis like other concepts in social sciences, which have no generally accepteddefinition. At first sight, it seems easy to define crime as doing somethingwrong or relating crime to immorality. Is there any agreement over what ismorally wrong or right? Should all moral wrongs be crimes? It could also beasked whether all crimes are moral wrongs.  Dambazau (1994), defined crime as “an act oromission against public interest, and which is prescribed by law enacted by thelegislature in the overall interests of the society, and to which prescribedpunishment is attached in the event of violation and it involves four majorprinciples which are public wrong, moral wrong, law and punishment for thecriminal. Crime is also seen as a violation of the rules agreed to be respectedby all members of the society, and upon which the rest members of the societymeet sanctions that the legal system views crime as a public and moral wrong”.

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 Mathews (1993) says, “Crimes are the outcomeof social changes, which is brought about by social developments and exposureof Nigerians to the Western culture and their life style”. According to OxfordDictionary of Sociology (2009:139) “a crime is held to be an offence, whichgoes beyond the personal and into the public sphere, breaking prohibitory rulesor laws, to which legitimate punishments or sanctions are attached, and whichrequires the intervention of a public authority… for crime to be known as such,it must come to the notice of, and be processed through, an administrativesystem or enforcement agency. It must be reported and recorded by the police(or other investigator); it may then become part of criminal statistics; may ormay not be investigated; and may or may not result in a court case.

“Crimeis a socially constructed phenomenon. Its meaning is profoundly influenced byconsiderations of time and space. Its construction is based upon theinteraction of four key elements, which is also known as the chemistry ofcrime. These elements or components are – the victims, the offenders, apossible target and the absence of a guardian. For crime to be said to occur,these elements have to interact together.   Criminologists infer that crime has two majorelements, – criminal act which is either a commission or an omission and mentalelement which is called the criminal intent, which is the rationality of thecriminal. Both of the elements may pose serious threat to the physical, mentalhealth, life and property. Therefore, crimes must have these two elements andif either of them is lacking, then there is no crime.

 Crime is basically defined through the eyes ofthe society. An act is not a crime until society dooms it to be and if societyconsiders some acts, not opposed to their group sentiments, then that act isnot a crime at all. Crime is an act which offends and threatens the society.Therefore, those act needs to be punished. The basic reason behind the makingof law is to take punitive measures on those who commit the crime and theselaws are the result of society’s need to stop the happening of such act. Forexample, witchcraft much earlier was considered as a crime and was punishable.At that time, people were very religious and believed in black magic orwitchcraft and thought that witchcraft was a crime and those who practice it shouldbe persecuted. In a strict legal sense, crime is the breaking of rules or lawsfor which some governing authority, such as legal systems, can ultimatelyprescribe a conviction.

Crimein the social and legal framework is the set of facts or assumptions that arepart of a case in which there were committed acts punishable under criminallaw, and the application of which depends on the agent of a sentence orsecurity measure criminal. In criminal law, crime is an act of omission whichattracts sanctions such as fines, imprisonment or even death.  Furthermore,a normative definition views crime as a deviant behavior that violatesprevailing norms – cultural standards prescribing how human beings ought tobehave normally. This approach considers the complex realities surrounding theconcept of crime and seeks to understand how changing social, political,psychological and economic conditions may affect the current definitions ofcrime and the form of legal, law enforcement and penal responses made by societySocietyplays an important role in defining crime as this leads to making of law whichwill prevent crime from taking place. Society’s outlook on the particular actis important in defining crime because, for example, if society doesn’tconsider giving bribe, it would not be counted as crime and no law would bemade on that, although, it is morally incorrect.

Therefore, crime is relative.Everysociety across the globe has its peculiar problems and challenges. Nigeria isnot an exception. As a developing country, she faces her own share of social,political, economic and cultural problems which has in no small measureaffected the well-being of the populace.

One of such problems bedeviling thecountry is the rising wave of crime. Nigeria has been on the global crime mapsince 1980.Violentcrimes in Nigeria have created doubt in the security of lives, property and thesociety at large. Crimes such as murder, robbery, killing, rituals, hiredassassinations, rape, child abuse, arson, kidnapping, money laundering,internet scam, drug adulteration, gambling, smuggling, are examples of seriouscrimes which are prevalent in our world today and especially in Nigeria.

 These days, criminals are getting more andmore methodological in the manner to which they carry out criminal actsphysically, (via the use of weapons and man power), psychologically, forinstance, hypnosis is used to commit crimes, and scientifically, via the use ofdevices and the internet. For example white collar crimes have become rampant.It refers to financially motivated nonviolent crime committed by business andgovernment professionals, it was first defined by sociologist Edwin Sutherlandin 1939 as “a crime committed by a person of respectability and high socialstatus in the course of his occupation” What is troubling is the new dimensionin methodological criminal acts in Nigeria which involves acts of terrorism andsabotage against individuals and social environments.  Incidents such as a case in which someindividual were stalked and eventually trapped in uncompleted buildings,basements or even car trunks  depict theviciousness of violent criminals. These acts are usually well planned,orchestrated, syndicated and organized in the mafia-type fashion.  InNigeria, to control and stop these types of crime, three bodies are responsiblefor the administration of criminal justice in Nigeria.

These bodies are: thecourt, the police and the prison. The Nigerian civil police force is made upof; custom, immigration and prison enforcement. According to section 194 of the1979 constitution, the Nigerian Police Force is appointed with jurisdictionthroughout the country.Otherbranches of the police force protect the harbor, waterways, railways andairfields. The Nigerian police force performs typical police functions and isresponsible for internal security.The views thatcitizens have about the police are important. These views can influence thedegree and type of interaction people have with the police and the degree ofsupport provided to the police (Cao & Dai, 2006). Without public support,modern policing is difficult, if not impossible (Islam & Ali, 2008).

Positive views of the police by citizens can lead to a positive relationshipwith the police, which can improve the effectiveness of the police (Brown , 2002). Negative views canlead to resentment, which can impede the ability of the police to be effectiveformal agents of law and order (Goldsmith, 2005). Policing views are,therefore, important to explore and understand (Nalla & Madan, 2011). Whilethere is a growing body of research on policing views, the vast majority ofstudies have focused on Western nations, especially the United States (Brown,Benedict, & Wilkinson, 2006; Cao & Dai, 2006).  There are numerousnations across the globe in which there is a scarcity of research on people’sviews of the police. The primary functions of the police are detection andprevention of crime as well as preservation of law and order. The police haveconstitutional powers of ensuring the prevalence of law and order and thepreservation of public peace. According to Bittner (190:38-44), a policeofficer is any person who is principally concerned with law enforcement andcrime control, and only incidentally concerned with an infinite variety ofother socio-political matters.

The1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria confer on the police forcepowers and duties for effective oversight and accountability similarly, thePolice Act charge the force with the general duties of:i.The protection of life and propertyii.Detection and prevention of crime;iii.

Apprehension of offenders;iv.Preservation of law and orderv.The due enforcement of law regulations with which they are directly charged. Performanceof such other military duties within and without Nigeria as may be required ofthem by or under the authority of any other Act. The law has clothed theNigeria Police with enviable powers in the sphere of administration of justice,preservation of law, order and maintenance of national tranquility. The sectionfrom the 1999 Constitution provides that the Police shall be organized andadministered in accordance with such provisions as may be prescribed by the Actof the National Assembly.

Inexercise of them constitutional powers conferred on the National Assembly, theNational Assembly enacted the Police Act. In the exercise of its primarypowers, the Police also act in other spheres which are necessarily incidentalto the exercise of the actual powers of the police. For instance, in theexercise of the primary duty of the police under section 4 of the Police Act,the Act gives the Police the power of public prosecution.

 Bythese powers, the police can charge and prosecute any person suspected to havecommitted a crime before any court of law in Nigeria. In the bid to create afavorable condition for the discharge of the duty of the police; the Police Acthas also given the police the power to arrest any person suspected to havecommitted a crime with or without warrants. ThePolice by the provision of the Act are also empowered to detain any personreasonably suspected to be in possession or carrying stolen property, orproperty that is reasonably believed to be unlawfully obtained.

For the purposeof forensic investigation, the law empowers the police to take finger prints.It should, however, be noted that the exercise of these numerous powersconferred on the police has to be discharged with due regards to reasonabilityand decorum. Any exercise of such powers in contravention of proceduresaccepted practice and the rights of individuals would be rendered ultra-viresnull and void. This is importantly so as individual rights are alsofundamentally guaranteed by the same Constitution that gives powers on thepolice. 1.1 STATEMENT OF PROBLEMWiththe numerous functions of the Nigerian police and the power conferred to themby the Nigerian constitution, how effective are the Nigerian police in thecarrying out of their basic functions and duties? What do they do on a dailybasis to enhance the state of the nation? How corrupt are they perceived tobe?  What steps can be taken to reducecorruption in the police force? These questions and so many others aredifficult to answer because of the many challenges and problems that has eateninto the Nigerian police force, problems like lack of adequate scientificequipment’s for detecting crime and security like CCTV cameras, collection ofbribes, illiteracy of police officers, inadequate transportation, lack ofmotivation, failure to train police officers well has led to untimely death ofboth criminal and victim…these problems are reducing the confidence of thegeneral public in the Nigerian police force. People do not respect the policebecause of the general belief that the police are corrupt and do not deservethe due respect. Imagine a house being robbed and d police is called and theydo not arrive for hours.

People do not feel safe anymore even in the comfort oftheir homes, they sleep with one eye open and ears alert. Today, even beforegoing to church, people would have to think twice, especially in the Northernpart of Nigeria. This is an irresponsible act which occurs on a daily basis.The Nigerian police slogan goes thus: “THE POLICE IS YOUR FRIEND”. But, come tothink of it, are they really? People do not believe in the police, maybe due tothe past experiences they have had with the police or other reasons best knownto them. The public perception of the police in Nigeria has greatly affectedthe level of support given to the police by community members in fightingcrime. As a result of this, many hold back from giving important informationwhich could have helped to checkmate crime to the police. Public participationis very important in assisting the police to achieve the desired effectivecrime prevention and control but people have refused to cooperate with thepolice.

 1.2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVESThisstudy is to find out the perception of people of the effectiveness of theNigerian Police Force in crime control in Akute, are of Ogun State. This studyis designed;1)      Toidentify the basic functions of policing in Nigeria2)      Toexamine the deficiency of the police in the discharge of their functions3)      Toexamine the Nigerian Police alertness and response to various crime situationsin the community4)      Tofind out if corruption has contributed to the inefficiency of the police5)      Topropose solutions 1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS1)      Towhat extent does the Nigerian police force perform their functions?2)      Whatare the deficiencies of the police in the discharge of their functions?3)      Howdo the Nigerian Police respond to crime situations in the community?4)      Hascorruption contributed to the inefficiency of the police?5)      Whatare the possible solutions 1.

4 FORMULATION OF HYPOTHESISBasedon the objective of the study, the main hypothesis that will be used incarrying out the research of the study is as followsH1:There is a relationship between public cooperation and police performance incrime control.H2:There is no relationship between public cooperation and police performance incrime control.  

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