Drawing on data collected from a survey of 334 randomly selected residents in Ile-Ife, Nigeria, this paper explores the perception and factors that contributed to residents’ opinion of the police. The overall result revealed that residents had low satisfaction with the police. It was deducible that satisfaction with the police increases with an increase in residents’ level of education, income status and age. Furthermore, maximum satisfaction was held about the police by residents who felt very much safe in the study area. It was further revealed that satisfaction with the police increases as place of residence changes from a high- to a low-density neighbourhood. The result of multiple ordinary least-squares regression analysis further revealed gender, experience of crime and contact with the police as significant factors in residents’ perception of the police. The study therefore concluded that perception of the police varies between socioeconomic groups and is also influenced by many other contextual factors.
AlemikaEE (1988) Policing and perceptions of police in Nigeria. Police Studies11(4): 161–176.
2.
AlemikaEChukwumaC (2005) Criminal Victimization and Fear of Crime in Lagos Metropolis, Nigeria. Lagos: CLEEN Foundation.
3.
AlemikaEEO (2000) Police-Community Violence in Nigeria. Lagos: Centre for Law Enforcement Education.
4.
AlemikaEEO (2003a) Police, policing and rule of law in transitional countries. In: LindholtLde Mesquita NetoPTitusDAlemikaEE (eds) Human Rights and the Police in Transitional Countries. The Hague: Kluwer Law International.
5.
AlemikaEEO (2003b) Police corruption and insecurity in Nigeria. In: EinsteinSAmirM (eds) Police Corruption: Paradigms, Models and Concepts – Challenges for Developing Countries. Huntsville, TX: Office of International Criminal Justice, Sam Houston State University, pp.445–494.
6.
AyodeleJOAderintoAA (2014) Public confidence in the police and crime reporting practices of victims in Lagos, Nigeria. International Journal of Criminal Justice Sciences9(1): 46–63.
7.
BadioraAI (2012) Spatio-temporal pattern of crime and delinquency in Ile-Ife, Nigeria. MSc dissertation, Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria.
8.
CaoLFrankJCullenFT (1996) Race, community context and confidence in police. American Journal of Police15: 3–22.
9.
ChowHPH (2008) Risk Behaviour, Criminal Victimization, and Perceptions of the Police: A Survey of High School Students in Regina. Regina, Saskatchewan: University of Regina.
10.
ChowHPH (2011) Adolescent attitudes toward the police in a western Canadian city. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies and Management34: 638–653.
11.
ChowHPH (2012) Attitudes towards police in Canada: A study of perceptions of university students in a Western Canadian city. International Journal of Criminal Justice Sciences7(1): 508–523.
12.
CorreiaMEReisigMDLourichN (1996) Public perceptions of state police: An analysis of individual and contextual variables. Journal of Criminal Justice24: 17–28.
13.
DempseySForstLS (2011) An Introduction to Policing. New York: Delmar Cengage.
14.
EckJESpelmanW (1987) Problem Solving: Problem-Oriented Policing in Newport News. Washington, DC: Police Executive Research Forum.
15.
HalseyKWhiteR (2008) Young People, Crime and Public Perceptions: A Review of the Literature. LGA Research Report F/SR264. Slough: NFER.
16.
HawdonJERyanJGriffinSP (2003) Policing tactics and perceptions of police legitimacy. Police Quarterly6: 469–491.
17.
HindsL (2007) Building police-youth relationships: The importance of procedural justice. Youth Justice7: 195–209.
18.
JacksonJBradfordBHohlKFarrallS (2009) Does the fear of crime erode public confidence in policing?Policing3: 100–111.
19.
JesilowPMeyerJA (2001) The effect of police misconduct on public attitudes: A quasi-experiment. Journal of Crime and Justice24: 109–121.
20.
KusowAMWilsonLCMartinDE (1997) Determinants of citizen satisfaction with police: The effects of residential location. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies and Management20: 655–664.
21.
Network of Human Rights Violations Monitors (2005–2006) The State of Human Rights in Nigeria. Being a Report on Human Rights Violations Monitored in Nigeria by Network of Human Rights Violations Monitors in collaboration with the National Human Rights Commission, UNDP and NORAD. Abuja, Nigeria: National Human Rights Commission.
NofzigerSWilliamsLS (2005) Perceptions of police and safety in a small town. Police Quarterly8: 248–270.
25.
OgagaAO (2003) The historical role and functions of the Nigeria Police. In VTJike (ed.), The Nigeria Police and the Crisis of Law and Order: A Book of Reading. Ikeja, Nigeria: NISS Publications.
26.
OlalereA (2015) Human rights abuse: Police brutality and limitation of the law. In: Law comments off on human rights abuse: Police brutality and limitation of the law. News Watch News19 January.
OyeduntanAR (2003) Ethnic Militias and Prejudicial Murder in Nigeria: Race, Ethnicity and Crime. Ile-Ife: OAU Press.
29.
ReisigMDParksRB (2000) Experience, quality of life and neighbourhood context: A hierarchical analysis of satisfaction with police. Justice Quarterly17: 607–630.
30.
RenLCaoLLovrichNGaffneyM (2005) Linking confidence in the police with the performance of the police: Community policing can make a difference. Journal of Criminal Justice33: 55–66.
31.
SampsonRJBartuschDJ (1998) Legal cynicism and (subcultural?) tolerance of deviance: The neighborhood context of neighborhood racial differences. Law and Society Review32: 777–804.
32.
SchaferJAHuebnerBMBynumTS (2003) Citizen perceptions of police services: race, neighbourhood context, and community policing. Police Quarterly6: 440–468.
33.
ScheiderMCRowellTBezdikianV (2003) The impact of citizen perceptions of community policing on fear of crime: Findings from twelve cities. Police Quarterly6(6): 363–386.
34.
SharpEBJohnsonPE (2009) Accounting for variation in distrust of local police. Justice Quarterly26(1): 157–182.
35.
SimsBHooperMPetersonSA (2002) Determinants of citizens’ attitudes toward police: Results of the Harrisburg citizen survey – 1999. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies and Management25: 457–471.
36.
SkoganWG (2005) Citizen satisfaction with police encounters. Police Quarterly8: 298–321.
37.
SkoganWG (2006) Asymmetry in the impact of encounters with police. Policing and Society16: 99–126.
38.
SowerCHollandJTiedkeKFreemanW (1957) Community involvement. Glencoe, IL: The Free Press.
39.
SoyomboO (2009) Sociology and Crime Control: That We May Live in Peace. Inaugural lecture, University of Lagos. 10 June. Lagos: University of Lagos Press.
40.
SprottJBDoobAN (2009) The effect of urban neighborhood disorder on evaluations of the police and courts. Crime and Delinquency55: 339–362.
TrojanowiczRC (1982) Evaluation of the Neighbourhood Foot Patrol Program in Flint, Michigan. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University.
43.
TrojanowiczRCDixonSL (1974) Criminal Justice and the Community. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
44.
TylerR (2004) Enhancing police legitimacy. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science593: 84–99.
45.
TylerTR (2005) Policing in black and white: Ethnic group differences in trust and confidence in the police. Police Quarterly, 8(3), 322–342.
46.
TylerTR (2007) Legitimacy and Criminal Justice. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
47.
WilliamsSNofzigerS (2003) Cops and the college crowd: Young adults and perceptions of police in a college town. Journal of Crime and Justice26: 125–151.
