Varsity teacher advocates national crime statistics department in police force

Dean, Students Affairs, University of Uyo, Dr. Aniekan Brown, has canvassed a national crime statistics department in the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), saying it will ensure accurate budgeting for crime prevention in the country.

He made the assertion while fielding questions from journalists on the incessant insecurity challenges plaguing the country.

Brown, who lectures in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the university, noted that without crime statistics, it would be impossible to know the number of law enforcement agents needed for effective policing of the country.

He insisted that having a full-fledged department of statistics in the police force would help it to gather the reliable source of crime statistics in the country.

“It is necessary for Nigeria to have national crime statistics for proper law enforcement, administration, operations and management.

“It is imperative to separate department of statistics from that of planning and research with only statisticians employed in the directorate for effective delivery,” he stated.

He advised the Federal Government to focus more on crime prevention rather than budgeting huge sums of money every year to fight crime and corruption.

Brown, who majors in Criminology, further stressed the importance of crime statistics in the country as it would make for accurate budgeting, stressing, “Without statistics, it will be impossible to have an appropriate number of law enforcement agents for effective policing of the country.

“Accurate crime statistics will also help reduce future crimes, just as the data will be useful to researchers, politicians and criminal justice professionals for a deeper understanding of crime and society.

“Proper crime data is an important justice tool and powerful weapon that can be used by the police to improve relations with communities, as it will facilitate dialogue between law enforcement and members of the public.”

He explained that sharing crime statistics with members of the public would help increase trust in the police, adding that even the role of the courts and the prison system in fighting crime could be scrutinised with statistics tools.