Property crime and police efforts to control it : The case of Lusaka, 1973-1990

The fight against crime is one of the tasks undertaken by governments. The-spread of crime in any country breeds insecurity among the citizens. This study investigates the
strategies the Police employed to curb property crime in Lusaka. The subject is pursued from 1932 when the Police
force was separated from the military up to 1990. Analysis of Police efforts to curb property crime is preceded by a discussion on the changing patterns of property crime. We argue that property crime notably robbery and theft of motor vehicles assumed violent forms after independence.This led to the introduction of severe penalties, which,
however, proved ineffective. After independence, the increase in incidence of property crime and shortage of manpower in the Police force contributed to the integration of the community in crime control. This strategy was also a corrective measure towards Police public relations which were poor both in the colonial and post colonial periods.Our conclusion is that there was an attempt to keep Police strategies for the control of property crime in line with the changing patterns of property crime. However, this did not significantly reduce incidence of crime.
Although Police strategies vis-a-vis crime control were dynamic, Police training was not influenced by trends of property crime.