Night-guards: Exploring gain and losses

The emergence of Night-guards in community policing has been criticized for numbers of reasons. While some critics advocated its abolition, others saw little benefits for its existence due to its contradiction in crime control. Thus, the study examined perception on the pattern of crime management adopted by Night-guards and the relationship with the conventional police system. Routine Activity theory provided a guide for the study. The study design was descriptive and qualitative method. Multistage sampling was also adopted. Questionnaire and in-depth interviews were used for data collection. A total of 150 copies of questionnaire were valid for data analysis, while 19 respondents were interviewed. Hence, 76% of the respondents were impressive and satisfied with the operation of Night-guards in crime control. Though 10% of the respondents expressed some reservations against the services of Guards, there was strong desire among 64% on the need for additional Guard personnel to combat crime challenges. There was cordial relationship between the Police and Night-guards, nevertheless a gap in terms of regular acquaintance with Night-guards was the area of concern. While 79% identified regular funding as a major challenge confronting the effective operation of Guards in crime control, arbitrary use of force by Night-guards resulting in human right violation was the major concern of the resident community. The study held that the role of Night-guards in crime control is complementary, especially when assessed in terms of community protection and safety. Night-guard should be given recognition by government through training and funding to buttress crime control system.