WORK ENVIRONMENT FACTORS AS CHALLENGES TO JOB PERFORMANCE BY THE NIGERIA POLICE IN RIVERS STATE COMMAND, NIGERIA

Abstract

The police is the foremost arm of the criminal justice network, established to detect crime and protect the lives and property of citizens. With these onerous tasks, there has been a high and increasing cases of violent and non-violent crimes in Rivers State. This paper therefore, examines the work environment factors that serves as challenges to job performance by the Rivers State Command of the Nigeria police. The choice of the state was necessitated by the high and increasing rate of criminal activities and the escalating spates of violence vis-à-vis the inability of the police to prove their mettle in stemming the high rate of criminal activities in the state. The objectives of the study are (a) examine the link between police work environment and their capacity to perform optimally their law enforcement function and (b) examine the work environment of the police visa-vis its implication for work related stress and police work performance. The methodology adopted was both quantitative and qualitative. The primary data were sourced from the men of the Nigeria Police at the Rivers State Command. The study found that certain work environmental factors posed serious challenges to the job performance of the police in the state such as poor budget allocation and insufficient salaries, the dearth of modern policing technology (CCTV, DNA finger prints, telecoms gadgets, modern weapons, GIS, forensics, etc.), lack of information and support from the public, delayed promotion/non-payment of promotion arrears, poor office conditions, among others. The study also revealed that the poor work environment factors induce stress on the police, which further affect their job performance. It recommends that the government, citizens and corporate organizations must work hand-in-glove towards providing a congenial work environment for the Police to carry out their jobs effectively.