Work Performance and Public Perception: An Emperical Investigation of Respondents’ Views on Policing in Gwagwalada Area Council of the FCT, Abuja, Nigeria

Abstract

The study is an investigation of respondents’ views on work performance and public perception of the Nigeria police in the Gwagwalada Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria, Abuja. The sample of respondents was drawn from two police stations in Gwagwalada town and one from Zuba township police station. Questionnaire was used as the instrument of collecting primary data from the respondents while secondary data was sourced from published journals, textbooks, official reports, papers presented at conferences and workshops and online documents. The Performance theory was adopted in explaining policing, work performance and public perception in Gwagwalada. Findings suggest that public perception of the police is very negative; the public sees them as very wicked people who lack public trust. Consequently, the much-needed cooperation from the public about criminality is not freely given to them. This has affected their work performance and has hitherto given them negative perception by the public. The study recommends amongst others that all police training academy’s curriculum of studies be reviewed to include the study of sociology and human relations as courses in the training curriculum.