An Investigation into the Effectiveness of City Police Crime Prevention Strategies in Reducing Robbery in Windhoek from 2017-2021

This study investigated the effectiveness of the Windhoek City Police crime prevention strategies in reducing the crimes of robbery in Windhoek. Globally, it is acknowledged that the crime of robbery is persisting at the highest rate and is considered a crime that predominantly affects society given its wide range of occurrences in several locations and times. In Namibia, armed robberies in various forms have been reported and this has become a great concern. These include cash-in-transit vehicle robberies, car hijackings, bank robberies, robberies on farms and robberies at shopping centers.

Statistics released by the Namibian Police Force in the 2021 show that robbery accounts for 25% of total crimes reported annually countrywide, while Windhoek in the Khomas region accounts for 19% of the 25%. The study adopted a qualitative approach for two reasons. Firstly, it allowed the researchers to obtain data from people with the necessary experience. Secondly, qualitative research presents the opportunities to clear ambiguities in answering research questions. The approach was aligned with a case study meanwhile the data was collected through interviews with the senior and junior members of the Windhoek City Police who were purposefully sampled. The data was further analyzed thematically to give an account of the perception of robberies.

The research study made the following interesting findings. On the factors contributing to robberies in Windhoek, the results indicate that there is a strained police-community relationship. Opportunities are presented by the citizens to the criminals, a lack of involvement in conventional activities, unemployment, lack of stringent measures, peer pressure and family factors are major contributing factors to robberies. On the role of the Windhoek City Police in curbing the scourge of robberies, the City Police alone are ineffective because factors that cause robberies cannot be adequately addressed by the police alone. The above findings are exacerbated by the strategies employed by the City Police to curb crime that seem not to be effective. In terms of long-term solutions, the study recommends the setting up of a focal committee, accelerated use of surveillance cameras (CCTV) in crime hotspots and busy places, and use of stringent measures and benchmarking best practices from other countries.