Human Resource Management In The Anambra State Command Of The Nigeria Police Office.

Abstract:

The word Police is used to denote a body of people organized to maintain civil order and public safety, to enforce the law and investigate breaches of the law. The 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Section 214, 1& 2) and the Police Act of 1990 (Cap 359, Part II, Section 5, p. 5) provides the legal backing to and general duties of the Nigeria Police respectively. It is known that these plethora of functions are expected to be performed by the Police personnels satisfactorily to the delight of the citizenry. But literature is replete with criticism about the ineptitude of the police in many spheres (Oyewale, 2005). Given the occurrence of such police failings vis-à-vis their statutory responsibilities, it then becomes quite worrisome that such situation still persist. These ugly developments seriously question the modes of recruitment, training opportunities provided, level of management-staff relationship and general human resource management in the Nigeria Police Force. Hence the need to determine the status of human resource management in Anambra State Police Command. Six research questions and four hypotheses guided the study. After reviewing the related literature, the researcher adopted a descriptive survey design for the study. The sample consisted of one thousand and ninety-two police personnels, proportionally composed from all the four police division in the state. Specifically, the sample was made up of 1036 junior and 56 senior police officers who completed and returned their questionnaires. Data was collected using a 46-item Questionnaire titled: Questionnaire on “the Management of Human Resource in the Nigeria Police Force”. The instrument has a reliability index of 0.78, using the test-re-test technique. Data were analyzed using frequency counts, percentages, chi-square and t-test statistics, at 0.05 level of significance. The major findings of the study include: (1) There is no significant difference between the mean ratings of the senior and junior police officer on the extent to which recruitment in the force is based on merit. In other words, the respondents are agreed that recruitment in the force is based on merit. (2) There is a significant difference between the proportion of senior and junior officers who indicated that there are adequate training opportunities in the force and their counterparts who reasoned to the contrary. In otherwords, a greater proportion of the respondents indicated that adequate training opportunities are provided for staff training and development in the force. (3) There is a significant difference between the proportion of police personnels who are aware and their counterparts who are not aware of the management policies and programmes in the force. In otherwords, a greater proportion of the police personnels, irrespective of rank are aware of the management policies and programmes in the office. (4) There is no significant difference between the mean ratings of junior and senior police personnels on the extent to which they are satisfied towards implementing management policies and programmes. In other words, irrespective of rank, the respondents indicated that they are satisfied towards implementing management policies and programmes. (5) The major hindrances towards effective management of human resources in the police force include among others: paucity of salary, working condition, communication gadgets, accommodation, motivation and delayed promotion. (6) Suggested measured towards enhancing effective management of human resources in the force include among others: enhanced pay package, working condition, accommodation, provision of communication gadgets including patrol vehicles and regular promotion. In the light of these findings, implications of the findings, summary, conclusions and recommendations were discussed.