Contemporary investigative technologies and management of crime: a case of Kampala metropolitan police area.

Abstract

The study assessed contemporary investigative technologies/tools on management of crime, in Kampala Metropolitan Police Area. Specifically, the study examined the forms of contemporary investigative technologies used in management of crime, the relationship between contemporary investigative technologies and management of crime and examining the mediating effect of personnel competences on the relationship between contemporary investigative technologies and management of crime. The study reviewed relevant literature in relation to the study. The study was based on the positive paradigm which is based on the idea that scientific knowledge can be objectively measured and verified through empirical observation. The study adopted a triangulation convergence model employing a mixed method design with qualitative and quantitative approaches. The sample size was 206 respondents who included 6 ballistics and tool marks officers, 15 cybercrime officers, 5 questioned documents staff, 171 staff of CCTV monitoring division, 5 criminal investigations and intelligence directorate (CIID), 5 local leaders. The study used stratified simple random sampling and purposive sampling. The study found out that CCTV monitoring is the most commonly used investigative technology by the Kampala Metropolitan Police, with respondents strongly agreeing on its effectiveness in the management of crime. The mean score for CCTV monitoring was 4.52, which is well above the average mean of 3.85. Furthermore, the low standard deviation of 0.501 indicates that the respondents' opinions were largely consistent, indicating that CCTV monitoring is highly valued as a contemporary policing technique for management of crime. The results presented in the tables suggest that there is a significant positive correlation between the use of contemporary investigative technologies and the management of crime. The correlation coefficient of 0.716 is relatively high, indicating a strong positive relationship between the two variables. This finding supports the idea that contemporary policing technologies can be effective in managing crime in the Kampala Metropolitan Police Area. The study found out that the average mean was 4.32 and the average standard deviation was 0.75 which implies that averagely personal competences have as mediating factors have an effect on the relationship between contemporary investigative technologies and management of crime. The study recommends that There is need to educate and train more police officers on the use of contemporary policing tools such as computers and GPS systems for tracking down suspects. This can help greatly at the police station level in capturing xi and monitoring the level .of crime. The Ugandan government needs to increase the budget of acquisition of closed-circuit television to improve management of crime. These should be installed across all un covered areas around the Kampala Metropolitan Police Area