Community Policing and Public Trust

• In Event: Citizen-State Interactions in the Shadow of Conflict

Abstract

The ability of the police and other state security institutions to enforce the law depends on the trust and cooperation of the policed. Our study is designed to address the challenge of building trust and cooperation between police and citizens in Uganda, using the “Muyenga model” of community policing. The Muyenga model is explicitly designed to create opportunities for more positive, mutually respectful interactions between civilians and the police by allowing officers to respond more proactively to the needs of citizens and communities; by providing mechanisms to report acts of corruption and abuse; and by encouraging citizens to rely on state security and justice sector institutions when crimes are committed or violence occurs. The model has been piloted successfully in a small number of communities, and is now scaled up sufficiently to allow a rigorous study of its effectiveness. Our study is one of six field experiments in the Evidence in Governance and Politics (EGAP) network’s Metaketa IV initiative.

Authors

• Robert A. Blair, Brown University

• Guy Grossman, University of Pennsylvania

• Anna Maria Wilke, Columbia University