Fifteenth International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

Abstract

This research critically analyses public perception of the Nigeria Police Force within the context of procedural justice. A total of 216 respondents participated in the study. Three variables were used in the evaluation of policing in Nigeria. The public perception of Nigeria Police Force is summarised in means scores on the following variables: Trustworthiness: 2.53 indicating the public in the research sample lack trust and confidence in the Nigeria police; Procedural Justice: 2.16, the public in the research sample think that policing in Nigeria is not within the confines of the law and also not in line with the international best practices; lastly, Effectiveness: 2.47 showing the public in the research sample think police performance is poor and have negative views about the nature of security and safety in Nigeria. Three hypothesis predicted the difference in the public perception of Nigeria police using demographic features (gender, literacy, and ethnicity) were formulated and tested using independent t-test and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), respectively. It was found that gender and literacy have no effect in the public perception of the NPF. While the results on ethnicity shows there is a significant difference in the public perception of the police. Recommendations were made in line with the international best practices and procedural justice expectation of policing that will improve the quality of policing thereby enhancing the police-public cordial relationship and collective efforts in the fight against crime in Nigeria.