Police-Community Partnerships and Community Relation Promotion in Rwanda National Police (RNP): The Case of Nyaruguru District

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the role of Police-community partnerships in promoting community relations with a case of three sectors, which are Nyabimata, Ruheru, and Muganza that were selected from the list of 14 sectors in Nyaruguru district. The study objectives were; to determine the role of information sharing between RNP and Community in promoting community relations, to examine how the fight against gender-based violence by RNP has promoted community relations, and to explore the role of a fight against organized crimes by RNP in promoting community relations in the selected three sectors of Nyaruguru district. The study applied mixed methods, which consisted of quantitative and qualitative methods to collect and analyze data. Data was collected from a sample size of 384 community members, 6 local leaders, and 15 police officers using questionnaires and interviews respectively. For data analysis, descriptive and inferential were used that consisted of frequencies, percentages, mean, standard deviation, correlation, and regression for quantitative data, and content analysis was used to analyze qualitative data from interviews. Findings revealed that there was a negative significant correlation between police-community information sharing and community relations (r= -200** P= 0.05) and a positive significant correlation between Police fight against GBV and community relations (r= 0.136**P= 0.05). There was no significant correlation between Police fight against organized crimes and community relations (r= -010**P= 0.05). The value of adjusted R-square is 0.0336 meaning that all the independent variables included in the model explained 33.6% of the dependent variable, which is community relations indicating that the model adequately fits the data. The strength of the model is further reconfirmed by ANOVA which indicates that P-value of 0.000 at a 95% level of significance. Therefore, it is concluded that police-community partnerships significantly influence community relations in the Nyaruguru district. The study recommended based on regression findings that the police should continue engaging in various community partnerships aimed at promoting community relations. Keywords: Police-Community Partnerships, Community Relation Promotion, Rwanda National Police, Rwanda