STATE POLICING: A VIABLE ALTERNATIVE TO UNITARY POLICING SYSTEM AND CRIME CONTROL IN CONTEMPORARY NIGERIA

The upsurge in criminal activities such as terrorism, armed banditry, robbery, kidnapping, farmer- herder clashes has posed great challenge to the efforts of the Nigerian police to mitigate crime and criminality in the country, thereby necessitating calls for alternative policing in Nigeria. The calls were further reinforced by the public outcry and protest against acts of police brutality culminating in the nationwide #EndSARs campaigns in 2020.This paper examined state policing as an antidote to crime prevention and control in contemporary Nigeria. Despite the potential challenge of state policing being political interference, violation of human rights, inadequate resources, poor communication gaps, coordination and abused of best standard practices across states, the innovation has its inherent merits, principal among which is the localization of crime control as the operators of the system are people who are familiar with the culture and tradition of the communities to which they are deployed to control crimes. The major objective of the study; to examine the role of State police in preventing and controlling crimes in Nigeria. The paper adopted Structural Functionalism theory as theoretical framework. The study utilized documentary secondary data. Major findings of the study is that state policing enables more effective and efficient crime prevention and control, as local police forces would have better understanding of the unique security challenges facing their respective states. The study recommends that the federal government should put in place robust legal frameworks, adequate resources, and oversight mechanisms to mitigate the challenges that may work against the effectiveness of the state policing regime in Nigeria. The study also recommends clear delineation of the roles, responsibilities, and jurisdiction of state police to ensure synergy of operation between operatives of federal and state police.