Introduction
Police-community relations are very essential in relation to curbing crime. This is because the community has got vast knowledge in relation to crime being practiced in the community. Many at times criminals are quite related in various ways with the society. They are neighbors, business partners, husbands and wives and even brothers and sisters.
Research in this area is therefore very important such that the importance of police-community relations is established. In this twenty first century, there is rampant criminology in various dynamisms. Examples of crimes in the society include money laundering, murder, robbery with violence among many others. All these are vices that need to be curbed from the community completely. (Brendan, 2006, pp. 39)
Justification
Research in the area of police-community relations is very important. There is a great need of finding out essential information in these areas because it greatly affects the lives of many in the society. One of the major reasons as to why this research is important is because of the entire complexity of crime world and the dynamism of criminology.
Crime is a very complicated venture that cannot easily be curbed by the police only. Criminals normally have so many ventures and easily camouflage as integral citizens.
Criminal deals are normally carried out ‘underground’. This makes it quite complex for the police to easily ‘unearth them’. The entire dynamism of the criminal world makes it very complex that police only find it very hard to solve it. In most cases, criminals don’t stay in one place. They have very many houses and in most cases in different towns. This calls for the help of the entire community to ensure that crime ends. That is why research in this area is very essential.
The other reason as to why police-community relations are important is because crime does not happen in a vacuum. Crime happens in the society and the community at large. In most cases the community has got very essential information in relation to crime and who the criminals are. That is why research has to be carried out in relation to police-community relations and how they affect crime in general.
It is very essential to carry out research in this field because the community at large can be used in curbing crime. When research is carried out in police-community relations, then the necessary ways of enhancing this relationship can be implemented. Various ways of enhancing police-community relations can easily be put in place when adequate research in this area is carried out. (Klevin, 2006, pp 28)
Research hypotheses
The following hypotheses will be used when carrying out research in relation to police-community relations.
- There are poor police-community relations
- Poor police-community relations have led to the overall increase in crime rates.
- Criminals are closely related to the members of the community.
- Community knows more about crime and criminals than the police do.
- The community has the solution to crime and its escalating levels.
Data collection methodologies
There are various data collection methodologies that are used in collecting of information during research. All these aid in ensuring that maximum information is acquired in the area that is being handled. When carrying out research in the area of police-community relations, I will use various methods. This is to ensure that the information is correct. This will also enable me to source information from the relevant and the targeted groups. The following data collection methodologies will be used.
- Questionnaires.
- Interviews.
- Focus group discussions.
- Previous crime records.
- Daily newspapers.
Questionnaires
This is also one form of data collection. This normally consists of a set of questions that are administered to the targeted group of people. In this method, I will prepare the questions before hand which will be both open and closed ended. Through this I will be able to collect required information. The questionnaires will be administered to general people in the community and also those who will visit police stations and courts in relation to crime issues. (Kernel, 2007, pp. 67)
Interviews
Face to face interviews will be used to collect information concerning police-community relations. I will carry out interviews with people who go to report crime to the police. I will prepare the questions before hand.
Focus group discussions
Focus group discussions will be carried out with the leaders and elders in the community. The discussions will be open so that these groups of people air out their views in relation to police-community relations. I will ensure that there is a favorable environment for these people to speak out issues concerning police-community relations. Through this I will gather information concerning this integral issue.
Daily newspapers
Daily newspapers normally have information concerning various occurrences all over the nation. This is in relation to crime activities that have recently occurred and also aspects concerning police-community relations. Through this I will be able to gather information concerning factors that enhance police community relations and also those that hamper it. The effects of police- community relations to curbing crime will be searched for in this research. (Brendan, 2006, pp. 41)
Previous crime records
This is one of the secondary methods of data collection that I will use in this research. I will use previous crime records from police stations and courts. In this I will find out how the community played a role in unearthing the crime. I will find out the various police-community relations that were used. Through this I will analyze whether these police-community relations still exist or not.
Data analysis techniques
It is never enough just to collect data, its analysis is very essential in order to come up with the final conclusion concerning the research. After carrying out research in this topic of police-community relations, I will analyze the data collected using both the collating and the relative standard curve method.
In the collative method, the data collected will be compared and contrasted. This data analysis method is whereby one brings together the data collected from various sources and compares and contrasts them. This is whereby there are more than two variant articles of the same information or in this case collecting the same topic of research. This means that the information that was collected through questionnaires, interviews, focus group discussions, daily newspapers and previous crime records will be analyzed. They will be compared and contrasted and then the final conclusion made concerning the research. (Kernel, 2007 pp. 69)
The other method that will be used is the relative standard curve method. This is whereby curves are used to analyze data that was collected through the above named methods. Through this the data will be analyzed and the overall conclusion made.
Conclusion
Police-community relations are very essential especially in this twenty first century where crime is quite rampant. Research in police-community relations is quite essential because through it solutions to crime can easily be implemented. This research is important because of the complexity of crime world and its dynamism. One of the hypotheses that will be used is that there are poor police-community relations and they have led to the overall rise in crime.
The other hypothesis is that the community has the solution to crime and its escalating levels. There are various methods of data collection that will be used. They include questionnaires, interviews, daily newspapers and previous crime records. The other method that will be used is the focus group discussions. This will be held with the leaders and the elders in the community. After data collection, it will be analyzed using collating and relative standard curve method.
Reference
Brendan, M. (2006): Research methodologies; New York; Free Press.
Kernel, H. (2007): Criminal Justice in the Society; New York; Prentice Press.
Klevin, P. (2006): Police- Community Relations in twenty first century; New York; Macmillan Press.
Appendix
The following is an example of a questionnaire that will be administered.
Please give a brief answer or tick YES/ NO where appropriate.
- Do you think police-community relations are important in curbing crime?
- YES
- NO
- In which ways should police enhance police-community relations?
- Does the community know more about crime than the police?
- YES
- NO
- Does the community have solutions to rise in crime
- YES
- NO
- What role does the community have in enhancing police-community relations?
- What are the existing police-community relations?
- Is police-community relations increasing or decreasing with time?
- YES
- NO
- How can police-community relations be maintained?
- Does the society fear or respect the police?