Capacity Building and Skills Empowerment among Private Security Service Providers and its Role in Crime Prevention in Lurambi Sub-County, Kenya

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the effect of capacity building and empowerment among private security providers on crime prevention in Lurambi Sub-County, Kenya. The study was necessitated by private security providers' presence and use to protect life, property, and maintenance of law and order in Lurambi Sub-County, Kakamega County, Kenya. The Routine Activity and Situational Crime Prevention Theories of criminology informed the study. The study adopted descriptive and correlational research designs. The primary target population constituted 358 respondents, both male and female, drawn from six registered and regulated private security service providers in Lurambi Sub-County, 5 senior police officers in charge of security, police administration, and 4 police stations across Lurambi Sub-County, and 133 clients of private security services. Purposive sampling was used to identify the 6 registered and licensed private security firms which provided the study population. Proportionate sampling with a statistical framework of 30% was used to identify 108 private security service providers who formed the sample size to ensure that the private security officers from the 6 firms were represented in the same proportion that they existed within the population. Questionnaires were used to collect data from three groups of respondents, including 108 private security officers, 6 managers each in charge of each private security firm that participated in the study, and 40 clients sampled from the 6 private security firms that participated in the study. Interview guides were used to collect data from 5 senior police officers in charge of security, police administration, and 4 police stations spread across Lurambi Sub-County. The study findings revealed that private security service providers were not empowered to the required level and this negatively affected their capacity in crime prevention activities where they were deployed to secure lives and property. The study recommended that private security service providers enhance capacity building, skills transfer and empowerment among their staff for enhanced crime prevention.

Key Terms: Capacity Building, Empowerment, Private Security, Crime Prevention

DOI: 10.7176/JRDM/93-05

Publication date: March 31^st 2024