UN CONGRESS EXAMINES LAGOS CRIME PREVENTION STRATEGY

The United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, during its twelfth conference, examined the Lagos State Government's efforts on crime prevention.

At the congress, which held in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil, from April 12 to 19, 2010, the Executive Secretary of the Lagos State Security Trust Fund, Mr. Fola Arthur-Worrey, made a presentation on the state's crime prevention strategies.

According to Arthur-Worrey, a Lagos crime and safety survey independently conducted by CLEEN Foundation between 2005 and 2009 revealed that 79 per cent of respondents had the perception that the level of crime had decreased and security and safety had greatly improved between 2007 and 2009 in the state.

Arthur-Worrey further said that the survey, which was done in collaboration with the LSSTF, also showed that the comparative analysis of graphs and charts from the independent survey supported the official statistics of the Lagos State Police Command, which revealed a clear downward trend in incidents of violent crimes, such as armed robbery, murder, assault and acts of public disorder between 2007 and 2009.

He said, 'These findings, to a large extent, validated the Lagos State Government's crime prevention strategy, which is centred on a public/ private partnership by way of the Lagos State Security Trust Fund in the provision of equipment for the police and other security agencies, and an effective emergency call and response system.'

The executive secretary said the situation was unique as it was the first time that an independent crime survey carried out in the state was being used as a policy tool in terms of reviewing the impact of the government's crime prevention policies.