NCJ Number
129273
Date Published
1989
Length
355 pages
Annotation
Drawing upon a survey of former police officers in the six British colonies of Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, and Malawi, the authors examine the work of colonial law enforcement prior to the colonies' independence.
Abstract
British colonial policy generally attempted to develop in colonies those institutions and organizations with a record of success in the United Kingdom. The British model, modified to suit local conditions, depended on public consensus and generally agreed upon social behavior norms. The work of police forces in colonial territories was carried out under the provisions of police ordinances. After 1945, a process began to change the semimilitary nature of police forces in Africa to one of extending the constabulary concept. This process varied considerably in speed between different African colonies according to educational, social, and political conditions. Personnel of colonial police forces were divided into three main groups: gazetted officers, nongazetted officers, and constables. Gazetted officer titles were standardized in 1937 to include superintendents, commissioners, and inspector generals. Nongazetted officers included inspectors, while constable levels included rank and file police corporals and sergeants. The British who controlled colonial police forces were mostly middle class, from business or professional families. Colonial law enforcement operations are profiled as well as the daily life of villages which brought people into contact with the police. 88 references and 6 tables