ASSESSING THE INFLUENCE OF COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP IN MONITORING AND EVALUATING COMMUNITY SAFETY IN LAMU WEST SUB-COUNTY

Abstract

Though community policing elements such as community partnership have been mentioned as possible CP elements that can influence monitoring and evaluation of community safety, there is limited research to ascertain this in Lamu West Sub County.   The purpose of this study was to establish the effect of community partnership in monitoring and evaluating community safety in Lamu West Sub-County. The study adopted quantitative design where data was collected from a sample of 405 respondents drawn from 32,873 of Lamu West Sub-County residents with the aid of a questionnaire. Correlation and regression analyses were adopted in data analysis to help in establishing the relationship between the dependent and independent variables. The findings of this study demonstrated that there was statistically positive relationship between community partnership and in monitoring and evaluating community safety in Lamu West Sub-County at (β=0.619; p<0.05). The study found that community has been in the forefront of collaborating with the police. The study also shows that there was need for a partnership between police and the community for a sustained peace and harmony in the society. Majority of respondents agreed that partnering with the police has enabled easy identification of criminal activities. The study concludes that community partnership significantly influences monitoring and evaluating community safety. The study recommends that effective collaborations between law enforcement and community stakeholders are critical to public safety, and it's critical that government agencies, community organizations, nonprofits, companies, and private citizens all see public safety as a shared duty.  There is need for more involvement of all key stakeholders in maintaining security.