It Is Time to Go Public

Abstract

Changes in modern society are rapid and complex and give rise to social problems such as crime. The relevance of community policing is derived from the need to facilitate robust relationships and mutual information flow between the police and the public. A £30 million UK Department for International Development (UK-DFID) overseeing a community policing initiative run in conjunction with the British Council's Security Justice and Growth in Nigeria did not achieve the desired community safety on account of the wide communication gaps between the security providers and the public in Nigeria. In 2004 at the presidential address to the American Sociological Association, Burawoy introduced the concept of public sociology involving taking sociology to the public audience. Adopting the Michael Burawoy's public sociology theoretical perspective, this paper explores the need and possibility of taking ideas of community policing to the public domain in Nigeria.