Community Policing and COVID-19 Safety Precautions: An Explanatory Study of Agbopa in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria

Abstract

Community policing means synergy between members of the public and police institutions to fight crimes. This could be deployed to address coronavirus pandemic that is currently threatening global peace and security. There are a number of safety precautions that are put in place to stem the spread of the deadly virus. One of the challenges of these measures is poor compliance. This leads to contact with the disease thereby putting pressure on scanty health facilities, crisis at the family level due to loss of breadwinners and loved ones. Hence, this paper assesses the role of community policing in enforcing COVID-19 safety precautions in a bid to mitigate the health emergency. The study adopts mixed research methods; data were sourced secondarily through the content analysis of peer-reviewed journals, edited text-books and online resources. The primary data were gotten by administering questionnaires on 364 respondents. Taro Yamane formula was used in arriving the sample size from the total population of 4,000 people. Frequency counts and correlation were used in primary data analysis. The two hypotheses tested led to rejection of null hypotheses and acceptance of alternative hypothesis. The test statistics are (P= 0.000, R= 0.144, 5%), (P=0.00. R= 0.098, 5%). Findings revealed that community policing approach significantly enhanced wearing of face masks, social distance in the schools, worship centres and during transportation. The study recommends effective collaborations among people at the grassroots to end COVID-19 pandemic. The paper will be useful to individuals, Community Development Associations, National Centre for Disease Control and other stakeholders.