| dc.description.abstract | The study examined the effectiveness of the Uganda Police Force (UPF) in combating crime
in Uganda with a specific focus on Kabale District. To establish this effectiveness, the study
inquired into the causes and nature of crime within Kabale, the challenges the force
encounters in its effort to combat crime and the different measures put in place to
satisfactorily fulfil the force‘s mandate of combating and preventing crime. The objectives of
the study were to identify the forms of crime committed in the district, establish the drivers of
crime, examined the strategies employed by UPF to combat crime and identiy the challenges
experienced by the police in their efforts to combat crime. The study was premised on the
social contract theory where the police inherently derive their mandate as an organ of
government contracted to combat and prevent crime on behalf of the state. The study
employed a mixed methods approach using both the quantitative and qualitative methods of
data collection. The qualitative aspects of the study entailed the use of interviews and focus
group discussions to collect the data. The quantitative aspects involved the use of a survey to
collect household-level data from the 129 households. The informants from whom data was
collected included police commanders from the general service, traffic, crime intelligence,
community relations, criminal investigations, and the field force unit (FFU). Also selected
were key opinion leaders who were knowledgeable on the subjects under study. In total, 21
key informant interviews were conducted with men and women, and four focus group
discussions were held with male and female police officers and community members.
The findings reveal several causes of crime including poverty, unemployment, alcohol and
drug misuse (12.4%). Other causes included corruption, high population illiteracy, laxity in
enforcing by-laws, and parental neglect. The major types of crimes committed in Kabale
district were burglary/robbery/damage to property, theft domestic violence rape and child related offences, homicide, and substance abuse. The findings show that despite the high
levels of crime, the UPF in Kabale district has effectively lowered and controlled crime in the
area through the enforcement of stringent and effective criminal laws at the local level.
Despite the reduction, gaps and loopholes that require more attention by the UPF remain
including increased operational funds and staff. The study recommends the need to come up
with regional agreement and efforts to combat and prevent crime, training of the force,
increasing the budgetary allocation to the force and inter agency approach efforts to combat
and prevent crime. | en_US |
