A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for Awards of
the Degree of Master of Public Administration (MPA) of Mzumbe University
Community policing is a police-community partnership in creating safe and secure
environment for all. It is a strategy whereby the people take active part in their own
affairs; the police are seen as partners in crime prevention and community members are
co-producers of justice and quality police service. One rationale for public involvement
is the belief that police alone can neither create nor maintain safe communities. This fact
indicates the need of involving the community, the local government and the police to
work together to tackle crime. Despite the establishment of community policing and
numerous efforts by various police administrations to curtail the level of crime in
Tanzania, crime and social disorder still persist in the country. With growing
urbanisation and national development, there are signs of complexity and multiplicity of
criminal offenses and acts. The general objective of the study was to examine the role of
community policing in reducing crime in Kinondoni District in Tanzania in selected
wards of Kinondoni and Msasani. Mixed-methods approach which combines both
qualitative and quantitative methods was employed in this study. The findings indicate
that community in Kinondoni and Msasani wards are moderately involving in
community policing and crime prevention since are confident toward police services
where they are increased tendency of reporting crime cases at police stations.
Stakeholders are involved in the community policing if they are consulted. Communities
should be educated about community policing and police officers have to adhere to code
of ethics when interacting with the community. These outcomes have been realised
despite challenges like lack of adequate resources, lack of willingness, lack of trust and
poor customer care by the police. The conclusions indicate that communities are
reporting at police stations when they are affected by crime incident, many people have
inadequate knowledge about community policing and, some community members are
willing to participatein community policing but are discouraged by social disorders from
some of police officers. The study recommends to Police Force, the government, policy
makers, civil society and the members of community to support and strengthen
community policing programmes in order to prevent crime in community