Police, Policing, and the Community: Community Policing in Theory and Practice in Gulu, Uganda
<div class="page" title="Page 1"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><p><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-family: 'NimbusSanL';">In 2017 the Uganda Police Force (UPF) issued a Strategy for Commu...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Librelloph
2020-05-01
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| Series: | Journal of Human Security |
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| Online Access: | http://www.librelloph.com/journalofhumansecurity/article/view/563 |
| _version_ | 1811318043355119616 |
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| author | Shai Andre Divon |
| author_facet | Shai Andre Divon |
| author_sort | Shai Andre Divon |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <div class="page" title="Page 1"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><p><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-family: 'NimbusSanL';">In 2017 the Uganda Police Force (UPF) issued a Strategy for Community Policing (COP). The aim of the strategy is to provide a framework for the operationalisation of COP in the country. COP in </span><span style="font-size: 9.000000pt; font-family: 'NimbusSanL';">Uganda is viewed both as a philosophy and an organisational strategy aiming at promoting new partnerships between the police and the community. This research examines how the UPF applies the COP strategy in Gulu Uganda to create new partnerships between the police and the community as part of the preparation </span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-family: 'NimbusSanL';">for transforming Gulu into a city in Uganda. Anchored in qualitative research conducted in 2018–2019 in </span><span style="font-size: 9.000000pt; font-family: 'NimbusSanL';">Gulu municipality, we examined COP in theory and practice. We fleshed out the different COP interventions installed by the police, observed how these applications of COP are perceived by the community and local leadership, and evaluated the extent to which these applications and perceptions contribute to creating new </span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-family: 'NimbusSanL';">partnerships between the police and the public, as well as how these constitute an operationalisation of </span><span style="font-size: 9.000000pt; font-family: 'NimbusSanL';">the UPF strategy for COP. There are several interventions labelled as COP in Gulu, including joint patrols, </span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-family: 'NimbusSanL';">Mayumba Kumi, sensitisation activities, and partnerships with NGOs. Most of these applications are ‘old </span><span style="font-size: 9.000000pt; font-family: 'NimbusSanL';">wine in new bottles’ and do not qualify as attempts to create new partnerships between the police and the public. In linkage to the mode of governance exercised by the Government of Uganda, the data collected </span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-family: 'NimbusSanL';">indicates that the public at large still views the police as a corrupt, unpredictable, and a violent force that </span><span style="font-size: 9.000000pt; font-family: 'NimbusSanL';">serves the interests of elites rather than a public service. As long as the police is viewed in such a way, it is difficult to create meaningful partnerships between the police and the public, and subsequently it becomes difficult to successfully apply the UPF COP strategy. </span></p></div></div></div> |
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| spelling | doaj.art-14592199be4943c29172ec5a69908a082022-12-22T02:47:16ZengLibrellophJournal of Human Security1835-38002020-05-0116214916410.12924/johs2021.16020149194Police, Policing, and the Community: Community Policing in Theory and Practice in Gulu, UgandaShai Andre Divon0Department of International Environment and Development Studies (Noragric), Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), Ås, Norway<div class="page" title="Page 1"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><p><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-family: 'NimbusSanL';">In 2017 the Uganda Police Force (UPF) issued a Strategy for Community Policing (COP). The aim of the strategy is to provide a framework for the operationalisation of COP in the country. COP in </span><span style="font-size: 9.000000pt; font-family: 'NimbusSanL';">Uganda is viewed both as a philosophy and an organisational strategy aiming at promoting new partnerships between the police and the community. This research examines how the UPF applies the COP strategy in Gulu Uganda to create new partnerships between the police and the community as part of the preparation </span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-family: 'NimbusSanL';">for transforming Gulu into a city in Uganda. Anchored in qualitative research conducted in 2018–2019 in </span><span style="font-size: 9.000000pt; font-family: 'NimbusSanL';">Gulu municipality, we examined COP in theory and practice. We fleshed out the different COP interventions installed by the police, observed how these applications of COP are perceived by the community and local leadership, and evaluated the extent to which these applications and perceptions contribute to creating new </span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-family: 'NimbusSanL';">partnerships between the police and the public, as well as how these constitute an operationalisation of </span><span style="font-size: 9.000000pt; font-family: 'NimbusSanL';">the UPF strategy for COP. There are several interventions labelled as COP in Gulu, including joint patrols, </span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-family: 'NimbusSanL';">Mayumba Kumi, sensitisation activities, and partnerships with NGOs. Most of these applications are ‘old </span><span style="font-size: 9.000000pt; font-family: 'NimbusSanL';">wine in new bottles’ and do not qualify as attempts to create new partnerships between the police and the public. In linkage to the mode of governance exercised by the Government of Uganda, the data collected </span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-family: 'NimbusSanL';">indicates that the public at large still views the police as a corrupt, unpredictable, and a violent force that </span><span style="font-size: 9.000000pt; font-family: 'NimbusSanL';">serves the interests of elites rather than a public service. As long as the police is viewed in such a way, it is difficult to create meaningful partnerships between the police and the public, and subsequently it becomes difficult to successfully apply the UPF COP strategy. </span></p></div></div></div>http://www.librelloph.com/journalofhumansecurity/article/view/563community policinguganda police forcepost conflictpolice reform |
| spellingShingle | Shai Andre Divon Police, Policing, and the Community: Community Policing in Theory and Practice in Gulu, Uganda Journal of Human Security community policing uganda police force post conflict police reform |
| title | Police, Policing, and the Community: Community Policing in Theory and Practice in Gulu, Uganda |
| title_full | Police, Policing, and the Community: Community Policing in Theory and Practice in Gulu, Uganda |
| title_fullStr | Police, Policing, and the Community: Community Policing in Theory and Practice in Gulu, Uganda |
| title_full_unstemmed | Police, Policing, and the Community: Community Policing in Theory and Practice in Gulu, Uganda |
| title_short | Police, Policing, and the Community: Community Policing in Theory and Practice in Gulu, Uganda |
| title_sort | police policing and the community community policing in theory and practice in gulu uganda |
| topic | community policing uganda police force post conflict police reform |
| url | http://www.librelloph.com/journalofhumansecurity/article/view/563 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT shaiandredivon policepolicingandthecommunitycommunitypolicingintheoryandpracticeinguluuganda |