Application Of Mobile Phone In Crime Prevention Within Central Division, Nairobi City County

ABSTRACT

The study sought to establish application of mobile phones applications by police officers in crime prevention in Central Police Division, Nairobi City County. Application of mobile phone in the police service is underutilized making the organization not to fully benefit from its usage. Understanding use of mobile phone applications by the police officers may assist the organization in crime prevention efforts. Due to its ability to engage consumers in a timely and direct manner at low costs, mobile phone applications are relevant for the police organization. The study was guided by the Mobile Technology Acceptance Model (M-TAM) as the success of the mobile phone implementation depends on perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived ease of use (PEOU).The targeted population in this study was police officers serving at Central Division of Nairobi County (782). A sample of 155 police officers was recruited using random stratified sampling procedure for this study. Questionnaires were used for data collection for both qualitative and quantitative data. Qualitative data was coded and analysed thematically after interpretation of theme while descriptive data was analysed using descriptive statistics by use of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 20.0). Mobile phone was found to be effective tool in prevention of crime in Nairobi Central. Mobile phone applications such as Facebook, Whatsapp, Twitter, emails and short text messages were found through adapted technology acceptance model (TAM) as to effectively contribute to crime prevention based on respondents’ perspective. Police effort to use mobile technology was found to have significant effects on crime prevention. Based on these findings, the study recommends development of customised police mobile phone applications and enhancement of applications use through capacity building among police officers.