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COMMUNITY POLICING AND CRIME PREVENTION: EVALUATING THE ROLE OF TRADITIONAL LEADERS UNDER CHIEF MADLIWA IN NKAYI DISTRICT, ZIMBABWE
Abstract
Community policing is a strategic consideration for contemporary policing, especially when police organisations worldwide increasingly seek cost-effective and sustainable methods of combating crime. The principle of community policing recognises the community and its leaders as equal partners in the prevention and reduction of crime. Hence, there is a need for research to interrogate how different police organisations have considered community policing as a panacea to their policing challenges. This study sought to evaluate the role of traditional leaders in community policing and crime prevention in the community of Chief Madliwa, Nkayi District in Matabeleland North Province of Zimbabwe. Interviews were carried out with eight village heads, four headmen and three key informants. Four focus group discussions were conducted to collect the villagers’ insight on the role of traditional leaders in community policing and crime prevention. Participants were identified using purposive and convenience sampling. The findings revealed that community policing is an effective strategy for crime prevention and that traditional leaders play a pivotal role in the success of community policing and crime prevention. Traditional leaders play an integral role in the recruitment of members of the Neighbourhood Watch Committee, assist with organising the business community to cooperate with the police in the fight against crime and play an important role in organising the community to attend crime awareness campaigns arranged by the police.
Keywords
Community policing; crime awareness; crime prevention; mobilisation; traditional leaders.