Practices and Challenges of Community Participation in Combating Crime: The case of Debre Berhan City Administration, North Shoa Zone, Amhara National Regional State.

Abstract

Police cannot succeed to combat crime without the support of community and stakeholders. Though community participation is very crucial to achieve the desired effective crime combating and improve challenges to combat crime, the practice to reduce crime was questioned due to the rate of crime in the study area. The purpose of this study is to investigate practice & challenge of community participation in crime combating taking DBCA of North-Shoa Zone of the ANRS. The study had the following specific objectives: assess extent of community participation in combating crime with other stake holders, assess awareness of community regarding crime combating , identify strategies used by community to combat crime ,and investigate challenges of combating crime. The study is milestone to provide information and awareness for local communities and concerned bodies at any levels, as well as for policy makers who are interested to understand and improve the current status of community participation in combating crime. To realize objectives of the study, mixed research method with descriptive and explanatory design were used. The study used primary and secondary data sources. Interview, FGD and questionnaire were used as an instrument of data collection. Quantitative and qualitative data analysis method was employed. 206 respondents were nominated from different sections of community. On the other hand, as a framework to analyze the theme under study, core theoretical and conceptual approaches about practice and challenge to in community participation combating crime are reviewed. The study found out that practice of community participation combating crime was fragile due to different factors. Hence, the issue needs urgent attention by community & stakeholders to improve practice and challenges of community participation. Based on the findings, the researcher forwarded some possible recommendations for concerned bodies that aimed as future better practice of community participation to combat crime.