Digital Community-Policing Application at Muloza Border of Malawi and Mozambique in Mulanje

Abstract

Information Communication Technology has created digital space to modernize citizens social networks and interaction to discuss and exchanging information. Social media has also become catalyst for citizen-police interaction to enhance security. The paper assessed Information Communication Technology applications in community policing in Malawi. Focus group discussions and key informant were used to gather qualitative data and was analysed using NVivo. Household structured questionnaire was collected and was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics (Chi-Square test) in SPSS version 20. Results show most commonly used Information Communication Technology (ICT) gadgets are mobile phones dominated by basic mobile phones. Most used applications were telephone call, SMS and WhatsApp respectively. Commonly used media communication format was calls followed by pictures then videos to communicate insecurity or criminal activities by informing, sharing, warning and tracing criminal activities. The ICT applications enabled citizens to initiate dialogue with authority, deposit evidence monitored in the community. The current study focused on the ICT application and how they have enabled citizens’ participation in community policing. The study recommends future research on effectiveness, efficiency and ethics in community-policing amidst perverse applications of ICTs in Muloza and Malawi.