Police and crime control in Urban Jigawa State, Nigeria (2014–2016)

Abstract The rise in crime wave in Nigerian urban centres in the wake of the 2015 general elections and 2016 economic recession, undoubtedly accentuated the need for improved security. This study examines the role of the police in controlling crime in urban Jigawa State, Nigeria, from 2014 to 2016. Most previous studies that appraised the role of the police in crime control in Nigeria relied on data from public respondents/participants. However, this study used primary data collected from public and police samples drawn from three purposively selected urban areas of the state. Results indicate that residents are not in the habit of reporting crime to the police. It also reveals that the perception of the effectiveness of the police in crime control in the study area is relatively high as majority of the respondents rated the effectiveness as either good or average. It also found that the crime control capabilities of the police were hampered by inadequate manpower and modern equipment. The study underscores the need for the police as well as the National Orientation Agency to educate the public more on the need to regularly and promptly report criminal activities to the police. It also recommends the prompt charging of cases not resolved in-house at the police level to court, improved police intelligence gathering mechanism and more periodic meetings with different segments of the public to help improve public perception of the police in the study area.


PUBLIC INTEREST STATEMENT
This study examines the role of the police in controlling crime in urban Jigawa State, Nigeria, from 2014 to 2016. It used primary data collected from public and police samples drawn from three purposively selected urban areas of the state. Results indicate that residents are not in the habit of reporting crime to the police. It also reveals that the perception of the effectiveness of the police in crime control in the study area is relatively high as majority of the respondents rated the effectiveness as either good or average. It also found that the crime control capabilities of the police were hampered by inadequate manpower and modern equipment. It recommends the prompt charging of cases not resolved inhouse at the police level to court, improved police intelligence gathering and more periodic meetings with different segments of the public to help improve public perception of the police.

Introduction
Crime and its impact have continued to plague societies. It has been argued that the eighteenth century heralded a breakthrough in crime theories and penalty, as from the mid-18th century several commentators published on issues to do with policing, the care of delinquent youths, the state of the prisons, and the nature of punishment (Shore, 2005). The history of policing has been traced to informal policing where every member of the community was involved in maintaining order (Reid, 2015). The first modern public police force was created in 1829 following the passing of the London Metropolitan Police Act, under the leadership of Sir Robert Peel (Fagin, 2016).
The police vis-à-vis its role in controlling crime has always come under public scrutiny. Owen et al. (2015) have argued that the mere mention of the word "police" may provoke either positive or negative response. They also observed that the history of policing shows that policing strategies have changed overtime when viewed in the light of best police practices. Policing activities become more herculean with the growth of modern cities that serves as a melting pot of cultures and a congregation of people with diverse orientation and agenda. Urban centres all over the world, including Nigeria, perhaps put to test the crime control capabilities of the modern public police service. The eleventh goal of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) is to "make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable" (Department of Public Information, United Nations, 2017). The police therefore have a pivotal role in ensuring safe environment.
Given that the art of policing is dynamic, there is the need to periodically investigate how effectively the public police service is performing its statutory functions of crime control and order maintenance. There is also the need to examine public attitudes towards the police. Schapp (2020) underscores the role of public trust in effective policing. He et al. (2018) argue that public opinion plays an important role in influencing government policies and keeping government officials in check. This study is motivated by the increasing need for law and order in 21st century urban centres across the world, including Jigawa State, Nigeria. The State according to the National Population Census of 2006 is the eight most populous state in Nigeria (National Population Commission, 2009), and as such, its cities are melting points of culture as well as crime and criminality. Therefore, the study examines the role of police in controlling crime in urban Jigawa State, Nigeria from 2014 to 2016. This time period is instructive, given that the country witnessed two major events (the general election and the economic recession) which undoubtedly have huge implications for crime rates and law enforcement. The broad aim of the research is to assess the role of police in controlling crime in urban Jigawa State, Nigeria between 2014 and 2016. Specific objectives of the study were to: i) To provide insights into the citizens crime reporting disposition in the period of the study. ii) Establish the number of cases taken to court by the police in the said period. iii.) Find out strategies employed by the police to fight crime in Jigawa State, Nigeria. iv.) Ascertain the rating of the public and the police on the effectiveness of Nigerian police in combating crime in urban Jigawa State from 2014 to 2016. v.) Assess the challenges confronting the Nigerian Police in their efforts to control crime in Jigawa State, Nigeria.

Contextualizing the problem
Crime is a growing problem all over the world, including Nigeria. Urban centres are usually cosmopolitan in outlook. They offer certain opportunities for livelihood that may not be available in the suburbs and rural areas. It is for this reason that people historically migrate from the suburbs and rural areas to the urban centres in search of better means of livelihood.
It is perhaps in realization of the central role of urban centres to development that the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (the first UN global summit on urbanization since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development) was held in Quito, Ecuador from 17-20 October 2016 (Department of Public Information, United Nations, 2017). Half of the world's population (3.5 billion) lives in cities today, it is estimated that by 2030, nearly 60% of the world's population will live in urban centres and 95% of urban expansion in the coming decades will occur in developing countries (Department of Public Information, United Nations, 2017). These statistics raise huge concerns as the influx of people to the urban spaces in developing countries, including Nigeria will have important implications for the rates of crime and law enforcement.
Urban Jigawa State, like many traditional city centres in Nigeria, is made up of Emirates headquarters that double as trade and social centres. People come from the suburbs and rural areas to transact both private and official businesses as well as seek for greener pasture. While some pursue their legitimate businesses, others pursue certain activities that hardly conform to the law. Therefore, this study emerged from the recognition of the unique law enforcement challenges that confront urban Jigawa State, Nigeria.

Conceptual explanations
Concepts like crime control, crime prevention, crime combatting and crime deterrence are commonly used in discourses on the efforts of the criminal justice system to maintain law and order in society. Crime prevention basically refers to any proactive measure designed to block or reduce the chances of crime occurring at particular place or the onset of criminal behaviour in a person (see, Schneider, 2015). Crime control deals with the efforts to fight crime in society. It is synonymous with the term "crime combatting". Crime control (public order) model essentially focus on fighting crime and protecting potential victims (Fagin, 2016). Crime deterrence has to do with the abstinence of a person from a criminal act because of the fear of punishment (Paternoster, 2010). The agencies of the criminal justice system are statutorily required to prevent and control crime. When they block opportunities for crime to occur; they are preventing crime. However, when they apprehend and prosecute offenders; they are controlling crime. Crime control also serve to deter both offenders and potential offenders.

Role of the police in crime control
Policing, order maintenance and control of lawbreakers has historically been carried out by private citizens (Dempsey & Forst, 2008). However, the first modern public police force was established in 1829 by England Home Secretary, Sir Robert Peel (Siegel, 2009). The police are one of the most strategic government institutions of social control (Lambert et al., 2010). The police service is empowered by the state to ensure the safety and security of its citizens when either individually or collectively citizens behave disorderly or unlawfully (Brown, 1998). The role of the police in society conditioned by three fundamental concepts: order maintenance, the right to legitimate use of force and the exercise of discretion (Owen et al., 2015).
There is a body of research that attempts to assess the role of police in controlling crime in Nigeria2019 and how the public perceive this role. Soyombo (2004) noted that the police were established to serve the public and therefore should tailor their activities to fit into public interest. He further pointed out that it is through empirical research that the police will be able to know the needs, expectations, concerns and perceptions of the public. Alemika (1988) worried about the dearth of research on the historical, socio-political, and economic foundations and characteristics policing in Nigeria interrogated the dynamics of policing in Nigeria and provided a tentative scale for measuring public perception of Nigerian police. Similarly, Ajayi and Longe (2015) examined public perception of the police and crime prevention in Nigeria and found that the police insensitivity to the public has inhibited a harmonious relationship between them and the public. Chinwokwu (2013) investigated the role of the police in crime and criminal investigation in Enugu State Police Command. His findings identified lack of training, skills, facilities, corruption, disobedience to due process, and ethical standards as part of the factors responsible for undetected and pending cases in Nigeria and Enugu State.
Furthermore, Hills (2011) examined the role of the Nigeria Police in Metropolitan Kano. She found that Kano experience demonstrates how locally oriented forms of policing can be very useful in reducing tension. Karimu (2014) assessed the performance of the Nigeria police in crime prevention and control in Osun State, Nigeria. He found that Nigeria's socio-political order impedes the effective performance of the police, coupled with high level of unemployment in the country, which makes crime control more challenging for the police. Adegoke (2014) examines the Nigeria police and the challenges of security. The study identified poverty, unemployment, leadership and religion as the root causes of insecurity in Nigeria and observed that the Nigeria police alone cannot combat insecurity in the country. Akinlabi (2017) examined the problem of corrupt policing and other related abuses in Nigeria and how such deviant behaviours can encourage public cynicism towards the law. He found that the public are very cynical about the law and have high perceptions of police corruption and police abuse. These studies are perhaps provoked by the need to reform the police in Nigeria to reposition them to be more able to fulfil their statutory functions. One of such functions is crime prevention and control. However, most of the empirical studies that have investigated police role in crime prevention and control, including those reviewed in the current study, have utilized data from the public samples alone. The present study therefore differs in the sense that it collected data from both the public and police samples. This enabled the study to generate data that offer a broader view of the subject matter.

Crime reporting patterns and policing strategies
The reporting of crime to the police by the public can be driven by a number of factors. According to Benneth and Lynch (as cited in Kochel et al., 2013), such factors may include: (a) a sense of civic duty, (b) practical consideration such as a case that has to do with auto theft where reporting is a pre-requisite for an insurance claim or, (c) fear and effort to forestall future victimization. A study by that borrowed from a Taiwan victimization survey investigated victim reporting of assault, robbery, and larceny. The study found that the severity of infraction was positively related to crime reporting. Another study by Ozascilar et al, (2019) which interrogated the willingness of Syrian immigrants to report crime found that Syrians are favourably disposed to reporting crime to the police and that satisfaction with the police as well as household size had a positive correlation with crime reporting practices. Xie (2014) compared area differences and time trends in crime reporting in New York with other metropolitan areas and found that the New York metropolitan area had lesser crime reporting rate than other metropolitan areas. Watkins and Maume (2011) used data from the School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey to investigate whether school-related factors, such as the presence of security operatives, influence students' reporting of school violent crimes to police or non-police authorities. The study found little differences in reporting from 1999 to 2007 and little evidence to demonstrate that schoolrelated factors influence the decision to report. Ayodele (2015) examined crime reporting practices among market women in Oyo, Nigeria and found that because market women have low confidence in the police's ability and willingness to arrest criminals, they are reluctant to report crime to the police. A recent study by Weijer et al. (2018) used data from four wave of a Dutch crosssectional population survey to examine the determinants of reporting cybercrime. It found that cybercrimes are part of the least reported variants of crime. It is quite understandable that cybercrimes constitute part of the least reported crime. By their nature, cybercrimes are complex and evolving. Therefore, many victims may not know about their victimization till after a long period of time. Besides, some victims even when they know, for example, that their social media accounts have been compromised, they may not deem it necessary to report to the police after they have secured it.
The Police have employed several strategies to control crime and criminality over the years. Willis (2014) identified some of these strategies to include: problem-oriented policing, order maintenance policing, community policing, zero tolerance policing, and policing vulnerable populations. Obviously, each of these five policing strategies is unique and therefore requires a tailormade approach during its execution. But, the aforementioned five strategies are not the only policing strategies that are deployed by police authorities to control crime. Hot spots policing have proven to be effective in reducing crime (see Braga et al., 2014;Telep et al., 2014). The police in t Kano Petropolis use patrol as one their crime control strategies. A study on the nature of patrol in the area revealed that majority of the respondents considered it beneficial to the police as a preventive crime control strategy (Radda et al., 2011). This is understandable as through routine patrol; especially of hot spots the police can effectively prevent crime from occurring in the first place. But, beyond that, the police can intervene in active crime scenes, apprehend suspects, and collect physical evidence from the scene.
The police use geographic profiling to map connected criminal acts to identify the location of the suspect's residence (see, Worrall & Schmalleger, 2016). In the digital age, the police increasingly use social media in its communications (see, Fielding, 2021;Hu et al., (2018). Furthermore, the use of body-worn cameras (BWCs) is becoming popular in the United States and other countries (Gaub et al., 2018). Third-party policing strategy can be useful in controlling cybercrime in Nigeria (Ndubueze & Igbo, 2014). Regensburger (2012) opined that the goal of law enforcement is to collect admissible evidence and that they hire investigative personnel in order to solve major crimes. He further explained that specialized crime scene investigators (CSIs) are basically required to process crime scene and often used by law enforcement agencies to document crime scene and collect physical evidence.
Importantly, the police largely rely on the cooperation of the public to detect and control crime. This therefore implies that the wider the gap between the police and the community, the more difficult it is for the police to effectively control crime in the community.
There have been several efforts towards reforming the police to make it deliver better service (Willis, 2014). Community justice which is a novel set of policing ideas advocates' custom-fit crime control rather than the traditional approach (Worrall & Schmalleger, 2016). Perkins (2016) investigated how perceptions of the police differ between neighbourhoods in York, United Kingdom and found that the factors that influence the views of individuals may differ according to how individuals see their local areas. The study further suggests that policing reforms that are meant to improve public confidence in the police must align with the views of residents about their communities. A study by E. C. Chinwokwu (2017) that examined the way police personnel are managed for effective crime control in Nigeria underscores the need for effective police reform programme that will ensure that the police and the community they serve work in harmony.

Materials and methods
This study is a sample survey. It involved the utilization of both the quantitative and the qualitative methods. The mixed approach was adopted to ensure that more information related to the phenomenon under consideration is collected, which will assist in arriving at a more reliable outcome.

Population and sampling procedure
The population of the study were drawn from the headquarters of the three Emirates in Jigawa State, Nigeria, which are Dutse, Hadejia, and Kazaure. These three urban locations were drawn from each of the three senatorial zones of the state with a view to ensuring even and fair coverage. The multi-stage sampling procedure was employed in selecting the Local Government Areas, communities, households and individual respondents in the study.
Firstly, the State was categorized into three senatorial zones, namely Jigawa Central, Jigawa North-East and Jigawa North-West. Three urban Local Government Areas (LGAs) were purposively selected from each of the three zones. One community was selected from each of the three sampled LGAs. To ensure that typical urban communities were included in the study, the administrative headquarters of the selected urban LGAs were purposively selected for the study. Moreover, police and other stakeholders (vigilante group members, youth and traditional leaders) in the communities were included in the samples.

Data collection and analysis
Two major instruments were used in collecting the data from the respondents. They included the questionnaire and interview schedule. Thus, for the survey, 200 questionnaires were administered in each of the three urban areas selected, totaling 600 questionnaires. After the data collection, 585 of the questionnaires were considered complete and suitable for analysis. Also, 29 questionnaires that were administered on the police respondents were included in the analysis. Furthermore, a total of 18 in-depth interviews were conducted. Six persons were selected for interview in each selected urban area namely: a religious and a youth leader and vigilante group leader in the community. In addition, one Divisional Police Officer (DPO) and two men of the Nigerian Police from each of the sampled three urban areas were selected for in-depth interview.
The questionnaires were administered by trained research assistants who were 300 and 400 levels undergraduate students of Federal University Dutse, Jigawa Sate, Nigeria. The in-depth interviews were conducted by the researchers assisted by the research assistants.
The data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22. Descriptive statistics is used to present the characteristics of the sample. Chi-square (χ 2 ) was used to determine the relationships between the key variables of the study. The process of analyzing the qualitative data began with the transcribing of the raw data. The qualitative data was analyzed using thematic methods; each theme was analyzed and used to complement the quantitative data.

Socio-Demographic characteristics of the respondents
From the data presented in Table 1, 45% of the public respondents were between 18 and 27 years while 38.1% were between 28 and 37 years. Therefore, majority of them were aged between 18 and 27 years. Also, the majority of the respondents (77.3%) were males. However, 48.5% of the respondents were single, while 45.1% were married. In terms of education, 62.9% respondents had tertiary education while 24.8% have obtained secondary certificates only. Furthermore, 83.6% respondents were Muslims. This is not surprising as the research area is Muslim dominated. For employment status, 31.3% respondents were civil servants; 25.5% were students and 23.1% were traders. As intentionally designed, each of the three sampled locations contributed one-third of the total respondents-that is, Dutse 33.0%, Hadejia 32.8% and Kazaure 34.2%. The total number of respondents whose questionnaire were analysed is 585.
As for the age of police respondents (See , Table 2), 13.8% were between 18 and 27 years, 41.4% between 28 and 37 years; also, 24.1% between 38 and 47 years. Thus, more than half of the respondents were between the youthful ages of 18 and 37 years. Majority (i.e. 18-47 years) were therefore within their active ages. Furthermore, 75.9% were males and 96.6% were married. Also, just as in the case of public respondents, majority of the police respondents had at least secondary education with 44.8%. Meanwhile, 48.3% had tertiary education. About two-third amounting to 65.5% were Muslims while 20.7% were Christians.
Furthermore, it could be observed that, 41.4% of the respondents were sergeants, 31.0% were corporals, 20.7% were inspectors while SPs and ASPs had 3.4% each. This indicates that, majority of the serving officers in Jigawa police commands were junior officers. By implication, much need to be done to augment crime prevention and security strength in the whole state.
Also, 37.7% respondents spent 15 years and above in the police service. Over 24% spent between 11 and 15 years in the service. Likewise, the same percentage spent 6-10 years in the service. Those who spent 1-5 years were only 6.9%, therefore, majority of the police officers were experienced.
The police respondents were equally shared among the three selected divisions, though about 2% of them from Hadejia did not return the questionnaire. By implication, the three senatorial districts that made up Jigawa state were equitably represented in the study.
The mean score of public perception of the police was 1.49 with the scale maximum score of 2.0. Moreover, 70.3% of the respondents have a score above the mean; thus, majority of the public respondents have positive perception of the police. However, there was no statistical difference in perception among categories of gender (p = 0.436), age (p = 0.239), occupation (p = 0.123) and formal education (p = 0.097). Table 3 indicates that there was no association between public decision to report crime committed to the police and the perception they have concerning the police (p = 0.062). In other words, public report crimes to the police irrespective of whether they have positive or negative perception of the police.
However, Table 4 shows that there was an association between crime reported to the police and crime taken to the court by the police (p = 0.000). Thus, it is likely that the police take most of the cases reported to them to the court for prosecution.
On whether the respondents reported crime to the police, Table 5 the study revealed that 30.4% respondents did report any crime to the police, while 12.8% reported the crime committed against them to the police. In other words, very few respondents report crimes to police whenever  victimized, and by implication, people do not have the habit of reporting crimes to the police that is always detrimental to the societal strength of crime prevention and security. Table 6 shows that the police respondents as represented by 34.5% indicated that, people report crime to police on occasional basis. On the other hand, 17.2% respondents said crimes are reported to them very often. Similarly, 17.2% respondents also indicated that, the report of crimes is rare, while 6.9% indicated the report as often. This is an indication that crime reportage to the police by the public in the area of study is not regular. This is perhaps owing to factors such as lack of awareness and perhaps unfriendly relationship between the police and the public. Another likely reason is because some of the crimes particularly those that are civil in nature are handled by the traditional rulers. This was affirmed during an in-depth interview with a traditional ruler in the study area. When asked how often they referred cases to the Police the traditional ruler (male, aged 42, M,Sc. holder) said: Very rare, only criminal cases, most of the civil cases are handled by the ward heads and village heads. Most of the issues they can't handle are reported to us here, if we are able to resolve the conflict, fine and good, otherwise, we refer them to the emirate council.
However, it was found that vigilante groups in the study area as a matter of operational procedure often referred cases to the police. A vigilante group member (male, aged 46, Diploma holder) when asked how often they referred cases to the police said: Immediately we apprehend a criminal, what we do first is search the criminals because you want to approach the criminal to apprehend him, you have to look in and out [sic] to make sure he has not weapon with him, if you don't do this first then there is a problem in the process of you trying to apprehend him, he may outsmart you, but when you are smart enough to search him first to ensure that he has no weapon, then we take local statement for record purpose, after which we hand him over to the police because that is what the law of the state that establish us say. We don't hold or detain criminal more than one hour or 30 minutes because the law does not permit that. That is why we make sure we hand the offender over to the police [sic]. On the average number of crimes reported by the public to the police in a month, as shown in table 7 the study found that, 51.7% of the police respondents indicated than more than 15 cases were being reported to the police every month. Similarly, 13.8% mentioned that, 6-10 cases were being reported per month while 6.9% narrated that, 11-15 cases were being reported to the police monthly. The in-depth interview session with the police revealed that on the average 30-40 cases were being reported by the public. This highlights that police receive a number of cases monthly that signifies their primary functionality.
Although more than half of the respondents did not respond to the question, the data table 8 show that only 32.5% of the public respondents said that the crimes they reported to the police were not charged to court. On the other hand, 7.2% only mentioned that the cases they report were charged to court. This suggests that the investigation into most of the reported cases did not provide enough evidence for prosecution or cases were mostly resolved in house at police level. Being close to people, police possess more crime prevention and control powers than the courts in criminal justice system in Nigeria. However, the results from the in-depth interview sessions with the police indicated that the number of cases charged to court per month varied across the divisions ranging from 4 to 32 cases. When asked on the average how many cases is taken to court on a month from his division a Deputy Superintendent of Police (male, aged 33, B.Sc. degree holder) said: I cannot be specific, but since I told you we have like 30-40 crime being reported, when you see a crime like house breaking, theft, all these types of offences are crimes that when they are reported here we charge them to court, but in case of maybe its civil in nature, or in case of maybe misunderstanding of maybe spouse or families, those ones will not be charged to court. They rather be listened to or be advised to go and maintain peace and it will be documented, the action that is being taken by the station or by the officer in charge [Sic].
Nonetheless, a Divisional Crime Officer from another division in the study area (male, aged 34, B. Sc. holder), while responding to the same question said. . Thirty-two cases on average. The remaining are domestic/civil in nature that involve family issues. If they become irresolvable, we take them to court. Especially, cases of polygamous  family. The frequency of taking cases to court is on daily basis depending on when the investigation is completed.
On the average number of cases successfully prosecuted by the police per month, the study as shown in table 9 revealed that 24.1% of the police respondents said that more than 15 cases were averagely being prosecuted to court every month. Meanwhile, 20.7% argued as 6-10 cases being prosecuted monthly while 13.8% affirmed it to stand as only 1-5 cases per month. As more than 15 crimes were usually reported to the police every month, so also the number of cases being prosecuted was more than 15. Thus, showing correspondences between receiving and dispensing cases by the police. And, this in essence indicates that, the police in the study area may not have been holding and delaying cases unnecessarily.
Police officers interviewed during the in-depth interview sessions explained that cases taken to court are usually successfully prosecuted. One of the officers said it is because before they charge a case to court, they make sure that they can prove it beyond reasonable doubt.
Another said, they follow laid down procedure in processing cases and that by the time they get to court all the evidence are there to enable the court to prosecute the case.
The data Table 10 show that daily patrol happened to be the most frequently adopted strategy by the police with 64.4% of the public and 62.1% of the police respondents indicating that. Indeed, checking point that seemed to be the most common was no longer popular as only 12.8% of the public respondents and no police respondent indicated. This could be as a result of the recent prohibition of unnecessary checking point by the police authority. Periodic raid was also not mostly adopted having 7.9% of the public respondents and 13.8% of the police respondents. This perhaps largely depends on certain and specific situation or cases involved. Upon receipt of credible intelligence, the police usually carry out raids of criminal hideouts in order to arrest suspects. During the in-depth interview sessions, a police officer listed the strategies used by the police to combat crime in his division as patrol, intelligence gathering, information/informants and community policing. An Inspector of Police (male, aged 47, Diploma holder) when asked to mention the strategies used by the police to combat crime in his division said: So many manual methods compared with the advanced countries . . . We have the foot patrol men, who go out in the night and arrest suspects and we have the vehicle patrol too that goes out there atimes that cases are reported to us directly of which we can both directly invite the person accused of the offence.
In the same vein, a Superintendent of Police in another division (male, aged 40, B.Sc. degree holder) while responding to the question on the strategies used by the police in controlling crime in his division said: Our major strategy of controlling crime in this area is patrol. Foot patrol and vehicle patrol. And in this patrol, especially, the foot patrol we collaborate with vigilante, sometimes Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, and even Operation Salama. We do work with these sister agencies.
Other police participants explained how they take proactive measures to prevent crime. Their testimonies are corroborated by a traditional ruler (male, aged 33, M.Sc. degree holder) who observed that: . . . we work together with the police in outstretching of these issues that may arise so that we curb them before they occur. For example, the issue of Fulani, farmers and herdsmen. There is always a conflict between the farmers and the Fulani. So before the onset of the raining season we usually use to have a meeting with the communities that are involved, the police, the SSS and the representatives of the farmers and herdsmen association so we can at least enlighten the people and take proactive measures to safeguard the occurrences of these things that may lead to bloodshed and other things among the people . . . Furthermore, majority of the respondents in both the public and police samples said that the police involve religious leaders, traditional rulers, community leaders, youth leaders, vigilante group, sister security agencies and media organizations in fighting crime. This was collaborated by findings from the in-depth interview. The use of police informants was also mentioned as one of the commonly use strategies by the police during the IDI sessions. Table 11 indicates that, about one-third of the public respondents (33.0%) and an overwhelming majority (82.8%) of the police respondents said the police use "stop and search" strategy in fighting crime. During the in-depth interview sessions, a Superintendent of Police in another division (male, aged 40, B.Sc. degree holder) capture the critical role of traditional rulers in collaborating with the police in combating crime in their communities thus: . . . Well you know they (traditional rulers) are very important in the community. Our people listen to them. When we anticipate [sic] problem we collaborate with them and a kind of preventive measure can be taken. Once you get your information . . . when let's say there is a problem between the sects "Izala" and "Jarika". They can contact the leaders of Izala and maybe the leaders of Jarki, bring them together and iron out the problem and resolve it amicably . . . Because they are closer to the people, any stranger they come about, they do inform us. We can find out from where he came and what is your (their) business. If we suspect them, we investigate.
The above view was corroborated by a District Head (Traditional Ruler) who said there is a security committee in his local government area headed by the Chairman of the Local Government and that the Divisional Police Officer is a member, while the Emirate Council also has a representative. He said the committee has a secretary and other security agencies as members and that they discuss anything to do with security. Table 12 shows that although 62.1% of the police respondents rated their effectiveness as excellent, and 31.0% as good, only 10.9% of the public respondents rated them as excellent. This result may not be surprising particularly as it relates to the police rating; since they were actually assessing themselves it could not be easy to otherwise give the rating as, for example, poor or average. This notwithstanding, 37.6% and 34.9% of the public respondents rated the effectiveness of the police as good and average, respectively. Thus, only 10.8% of the public believed the police were poorly effective. Hence, justifiably, police effectiveness could be rated average as observed by the public respondents.
Public rating of the police effectiveness may be affected by the unethical conducts of some bad eggs in the force. They were alluded to by a traditional ruler (male, aged 42, M,Sc. holder) during an in-depth interview session thus: The ethics of the work and your human disposition is what will make you stand as a role model in the community. For people to see you as someone that is protecting the image of the institution like the Nigeria police. But our issue with the question that you raised, we tend to see that some of these people that may tend to be a role model for others to emulate have some negative issues, especially as regarding their attitude, as regards the ethics of their work. As you can see, somebody that is supposed to protect the law is the same person breaking the law. You see somebody carrying three people on bike, when you stop him, let me see your ID, he will say he is a policeman, wearing mufti. He cannot stop at the traffic light, he over speeds, he does a lot of things in public which is not supposed to be for Nonetheless, the traditional ruler when asked his view on the nature of relationship between the police and the public in his locality observed that the relationship is cordial. He said: Like I said, particularly here in Dutse, our relationship is excellent and cordial. I believe the division here is one of the pilot divisions that got good training . . . from intervention through Justice for All programme for effective community policing.
The above sentiment is shared by a youth leader (male, aged 29, Diploma Certificate holder). He observed that: There is a very good relationship. Even if you go to where those that sell tea are, you will find out that the police and the people are drinking tea in the same place. So i don't think if there is any sore relationship they will be able to sit in the same place and understand each other. After that, there are associations that the police are close to such as the Okada riders (commercial motorcyclists) associations, drivers association, and bricklayers' associations.
The result Table 13 indicated that 41.4% of the public respondents believed that, lack of modern facilities is a major challenge confronting the police. Similarly, 51.7% and 44.8% of the police respondents believed that lack of manpower and lack of modern facilities have been the major problems of the agency in the study area. This is also collaborated by the IDI sessions. Therefore, it could be deduced that the lack of modern facilities followed by inadequate manpower are the primary challenges the police face. Unless and if adequate modern facilities are provided and more personnel recruited, the police agency in the study area may continue to experience challenges at the detriment of crime prevention, control and societal securitization.
A Deputy Superintendent of Police (male, aged 33, B.Sc. degree holder) when asked about the major challenge confronting in their efforts to combat crime in his division during an in-depth interview session said. . . . . logistics is one of the problems and logistics comprise of manpower, tools for the job, bullet proof vest for instance, serviceable arms, modern communication gadgets, writing materials, handbooks, serviceable pens, recording device, car (mobility) that you use in Well, our major challenges . . . we need manpower, if possible, these modern gadgets, especially forensic materials (equipments) . . .
In the same vein, another police officer (male, aged 49, Diploma certificate holder) said: We have inadequate manpower. Second, we have inadequate working equipments. These consist of vehicles, computer and the rest.
A traditional ruler (male, aged 42, M.Sc. degree holder) also identified logistics as the major challenge confronting the police in his domain during an in-depth interview session. He said: I know their constraints because of their patrol. I think they are constrained on the number of vehicles they have and am sure they have under personnel that will cover the whole of the local government . . . As the town is growing, there has to be a strategy of more men deployed so that they would safeguard the lives, property of the people that are living here . . .
On the major solutions to the problems confronting the police in the study area, 30.1% of the public respondents and 41.4% of the police respondents all believed that provision of working equipment is a major solution to several problems confronting the police in the study area. Similarly, improving welfare, having enough manpower, provision of equipment, community participation, fighting corruption, training the police, as well as inculcation of good morals by the police officers should all serve as a collective solution to problems confronting the police.

Discussion
The study shows that members of the public do not always report crime to the police in the study area. This is an issue of concern as the police rely on the cooperation of the public to effectively discharge their crime control functions. Boateng (2016) in a study that used field data collected from Ghana found that the level of confidence of victims in the police and satisfaction with police work positively predict their decisions to report sexual assault and robbery to the police. Similarly, a study conducted by Ayodele and Aderinto (2014) in Lagos, Nigeria concluded that respondent's provision of local intelligence through effective reporting to the police is a function of public confidence in the police. Given that majority of the respondents rated the effectiveness of the police in combating crime in the study area as either good or average in the present study, which could imply some level of confidence in the police, one would have expected a high crime reporting rate on the part of the respondents. Perhaps more enlightenment of the public on the importance of reporting crime to the police regularly will improve crime reporting practices in the study area.
Furthermore, while more than half of the public sample did not answer the question, close to one-third of the sample said the crimes they reported to the police were not charged to court. However, response from police sample shows a correspondence between receiving and prosecuting cases. Arguably, the level of evidence gathered during investigation will determine the veracity or otherwise of a case in court. Where evidence is lacking, it is unlikely that a case will be successfully prosecuted in court. Regensburger (2012) observed that the goal of law enforcement is to collect admissible evidence.
The study reveals that the police relied mainly on daily patrol as their strategy for crime control in the study area. An earlier study by Radda et al. (2011) that investigated the nature of police patrol in Kano metropolis found that majority of the respondents considered patrol beneficial to the police as a preventive crime control strategy. It is worthy of note that the majority of the respondents in both the public and police sample said the police involved religious leaders, traditional rulers, community leaders, youth leaders, vigilante groups, sister security agencies and media organization in fighting crime.
There is no doubt that this kind of partnerships if properly harnessed will produce desired results in crime control. Worrall and Schmalleger (2016) observed that community policing was provoked by the realizations by the police that they cannot reduce crime by their own efforts alone.
The police respondents rated the effectiveness of the police in controlling crime in the study area in the period under review higher than the public respondents did. Public perception of the police in Nigeria has been historically low. A study by Akinlabi (2017) found that the relationship between the police and Nigerian public is poor. This underscores the need for more collaboration between the police and the public in crime control. This way the police will be able to better understand the security needs of their respective host communities and foster more effective partnerships with them in order to meet such needs.
Above all, the study found that the major challenges confronting the police in the study area included lack of modern equipments and inadequate manpower. In the 21 st century world, the police require state-of-the-art equipments and enough personnel to combat contemporary crimes in Nigeria, such as kidnapping, banditry, insurgency, etc. Dempsey and Forst (2008) noted that there are several software applications that can assist the police in automated crime analysis and crime mapping. If the effort of police authorities in Nigeria to recruit more personnel to address the problem of shortage of manpower is sustained over time, it is likely that the manpower problem will be solved.

Conclusion
This study is aimed at assessing police role in crime control in urban Jigawa State, Nigeria from 2014 to 2016. The study was motivated by the increasing need for law and order in 21st century urban centres across the world, including Jigawa State. The study found that many respondents occasionally or rarely reported crime to the police and that many of the cases reported by the public to the police were not charged to court. Daily patrol was the most common strategy adopted by the police in combating crime in the study area. The study also found that the perception of the effectiveness of the police in the study area is relatively high as majority of the respondents rated the effectiveness as either good or average. The police was also said to be lacking manpower and modern facilities. The findings of the study are obviously crucial to the understanding of the crime prevention and crime control dynamics of the Nigeria police force. It is expected that the recommendations of the study would provoke policy intervention.

Recommendations
Based on the findings of the study the following recommendations are made. .
(i) There is need for the police as well as the National Orientation Agency in the study area to educate the general public more on the need to regularly and promptly report criminal activities to the police.
(ii) Every effort should be made to charge cases not resolved in-house at police level to court. This will also serve to increase confidence in the police and perhaps incentivize the public to report more cases to the police.
(iii) The police should improve its intelligence gathering mechanism as effective crime prevention and control is predicated on intelligence analysis and use. The police can maximize the intelligence support capabilities of stakeholders, such as religious leaders, traditional rulers, community leaders, youth leaders, vigilante group, etc.
(iv) More periodic meetings with religious leaders, traditional rulers, community leaders, youth leaders, vigilante group, and media organizations can help to improve public perception of the police in the study area.
(v) The police force of the 21 st century need adequate manpower who are well equipped with modern tools to be able to effectively deal with the growing complexity of crime. The Nigerian government need to invest more in this direction if the war against crime and criminality is to succeed.