Roles of Community Empowerment in Community Policing Program in Addis Ababa Police Commission

Effective policing demands active participation and engagement of the local community. Addis Ababa Police Commission implemented community policing to work with the community to solve crime-related problems proactively. However, the nature and type of power granted to the community affect the objectives. This study examined the roles of community empowerment in community policing at the Ketene level in Addis Ababa. A qualitative multiple-case study design was employed to collect detailed information. Participants in the study were purposefully selected from different community groups qualitative data was collected by using interviews and focus group discussions. The community residents engage in community policing through problem identification and definition. Another way of community engagement is dispute handling and resource utilization. Hence, there are two major outcomes achieved as a result of community engagement; first, beyond reducing the burden on the police department, mandating citizens to handle social disputes promotes the culture to solve problems among residents at the grassroots level proactively; second, community empowerment has created a fertile ground for community residents to develop a sense of ownership in the entire activity of the police department. Hence, this study came up with an insight that urges social work to revisit the conventional approaches of community empowerment to include other program implementations including community policing in the course of framing the emancipation of people from structural barriers.