The Role of Police Strategies in Controlling Street Crimes: A Case Study of Sargodha, Pakistan

Abstract

The problem of street crime has also become an important matter of threat to civic safety in the Pakistani urban centers, and the middle-sized city like Sargodha is becoming progressively impacted. Street snatching, robbery, motorcycle theft and violence in the streets have increased the anxiety of the people and undermined the trust in the law enforcing agencies. The research paper is an investigation of the usefulness of different police measures in the control of street crime in Sargodha city. The research design used was quantitative, where data were obtained on 150 respondents by use of a structured questionnaire, which was based on the Likert scale. The study involved some of the important policing dimensions, such as routine patrolling, CCTV surveillance, intelligence sharing, and operational efficiency. The results suggest that police patrolling and the use of technological aspects especially the CCTV cameras are viewed by the citizens as effective forms of curbing crime at the street level. In addition, the intelligence sharing and the boosted police response times were also found to be the reasons behind better crime prevention. Irrespective of these good results, a number of operational problems, including inadequate financial and logistical capabilities, lack of proper trainings, and institutional capacities, were identified to limit the overall performance of policing strategies. The research arrives at the conclusion that even though police actions are important to reduce street crime, the action can be enhanced substantially by the means of strategic resource allocation, inter-agencies coordination, and involvement of the community. These lessons give logical suggestions to policymakers, law enforcement agencies, and local governments in a bid to reinforce street crime prevention systems in Sargodha and similar urban settings in the Pakistani context.