Using Crime Deterrence to Promote Peace and Justice among Urban Residents: A Study on the Uganda Police in Lira City

Abstract

The study investigated the contribution of the police institution in the promotion of peace and justice among the residents of Lira City. The key objective was to examine the effect of crime prevention in the promotion of peace and justice among urban dwellers in Lira City. The study adopted a descriptive and correlational design. Data was collected through both selfadministered questionnaires and individual interviews and analyzed using mean and standard deviations. The findings suggest that crime deterrence is not significant in promoting peace and justice while community policing has a significant contribution in promoting peace and justice in Lira city. It was concluded that if crime deterrence can be enforced fully by the police institutions, it can play a substantial part in promoting peace and justice in Lira City. It is encouraged that to reduce the various crimes in the urban centers, the police should strengthen their deterrence rather than arrest through improving on its intelligence and technology with appropriate skilling of its officers that facilitate easy crime detection and empowering the public to remain vigilant against terrorism acts by collaborating with the Local Government Authorities and mainstreams sensitization on terrorisms in the different Local Government activities at the grass root levels.