Analysis of Nigeria Police Force Complaint Response Unit (CRU) Reports (First 30 Days, First 100 Days, Quarter 1, Quarter 2, and Quarter 3)

1. StatiSense
ANALYSIS OF POLICE
COMPLAINT RESPONSE UNIT
(CRU) REPORT (Q1-Q3)

2. INTRODUCTION
“Indeed, I make bold to state that there is no public institution in Nigeria that has exposed itself to public
accountability and self-cleansing initiatives using its in-house control framework than the Nigeria Police Force.
The missing link, it must be admitted, had been the inability of the Nigeria Police to take full advantage that
information and communication Technology offers to strengthen its accountability mechanism.
It is in acknowledgement of these policing realities that the leadership of the Nigeria Police Force resolved to
establish the Complaint Response Unit (CRU). The CRU will act as a central, ICT-driven public complaint Unit of
the Force. It will take full advantage of ICT and Social Media platform to interface with the public towards
receiving and processing complaints from members of the public and giving requisite feedback on actions
taken on such complaints. It is designed to complement existing in-house public complaint monitoring and
processing frameworks.
The broad objective of the launch of the CRU is to entrench police accountability values into our policing
system and to galvanize the citizens towards actively participating in the policing framework of the country.”
- IGP SOLOMON E. ARASE, fdc, NPM, DURING THE LAUNCH OF NPF COMPLAINT RESPONSE UNIT (CRU) ON
13TH NOVEMBER, 2015 AT THE FORCE HEADQUARTERS ABUJA
As rightly mentioned, very few Government’s Agencies have deemed it fit to open
themselves up for public scrutiny, and the Nigeria Police Force must be commended for
this giant step. Essential service providers ought to be open to feedback from the public,
that is how they would know how well they are truly serving the public and know exactly
where they can improve on their services.
Kudos to the Nigeria Police Force for taking this step, it shows they are willing to compete
with the private sector in terms of service delivery and be of greater benefit to Nigerians.
Hopefully, this will encourage other Agencies to tow the same line and improve on their
services to Nigerians.

3. INTRODUCTION
The missing link, it must be admitted, had been the inability of the Nigeria
Police to take full advantage that information and communication
Technology offers to strengthen its accountability mechanism
Complaints Collection Complaints Analysis
ICT Offers:
BENEFITS
Happiness Protection End Impunity Justice

4. APPROACH
This is an analysis of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) Complaints
Response Unit (CRU). So far, the CRU has released five (5) Reports, they
are:
1) Report of first 30-days (13th Nov – 13th Dec, 2015)
2) CRU First 100 Days Report, Progress so far – (13th Nov, 2015
– 21st Feb, 2016.
3) 2016 First Quarter Report (Jan – Mar, 2016)
4) 2016 Second Quarter Report (April – June 2016)
5) 2016 Third Quarter Report (July – Sept 2016)
1) Report Dated 18th December, 2015 | 2) Released on Monday 22nd of February, 2016
3) Release Date: 11th April, 2016 |4) Release Date: 20th July, 2016 |5) Release Date: 13th October 2016
The CRU First 100 Days Report is analysed in isolation since it intersected
both the 30-days and the First Quarter Reports. This analysis will critique;
the CRU complaints Framework, Indicators, Channels and entire report
across the 36 States of the Federation and the FCT with the sole
purpose of providing necessary feedback that aims to improve the
complaints process and ultimately help achieve these four objectives –
Happiness, Protection, End Impunity, and Justice.

5. THE COMPLAINTS RESPONSE UNIT’S SYSTEM
PEOPLE
PROCESS
TECHNOLOGY
111
CRU Responding Agents I
1
"CRU Responding Agent II" at
each of the Divisional Police
Stations across the country
Public complaint monitoring
and processing frameworks
Calls, SMS, Emails,
WhatsApp, Facebook,
WWW, BBM, Twitter

6. P E O P L E

7. HUMAN RESOURCES
The current number of CRU Agents would not be sufficient to cater for Citizens’ reports assuming All
Nigerians from Age 15 and above have reportable interactions with the Police.
QUANTITY: CRU AGENT
111 CRU Responding Agents I
+
1,130 CRU Responding Agent II
AGE GROUP ( ≥ 15 Years):
112 Million Nigerians
Estimated over 1,130 Divisional Police Stations across the country (2009 NPF Annual Report)
1 CRU Agent to Over 90,000+ Citizens
2016 Population Projection, National Population Council.

8. P R O C E S S

9. FRAMEWORK AND INDICATORS
INDICATORS
Benefit/ Entitlement Related (Nok)
Demanding Money For Bail
Dirty in Person
Distress Call
Excessive Use of Force
Incivility
Police Involvement in Civil Case
Professional Misconduct
Traffic Related
Unrelated/ False
Reports:
30 Days,
Q1,
Q2,
Q3.
100 Days
Abuse of Power
Benefit/ Entitlement Related (Nok)
Demanding Money For Bail
Dirty in Person
Excessive Use of Force
Extortion
Inaction
Incivility
Police Involvement In Civil Case
Police Report Related
Professional Misconduct
Traffic Related
One critical thing lacking in the Framework is the definitions of the Indicators. As such, they are
open to interpretation and can easily be misunderstood. For instance, what would constitute
“Excessive Use of Force”?
It is not exactly clear why some Indicators were dropped after the 100-Days report, indicators
such as Abuse of Power, Extortion, Inaction, and Police Report Related are critical to ensuring
the promised benefits of CRU are realised.
No Indicator specifically measures the Good behavior of the Police. For instance, if “Dirty in
Person” (which is also subjective) can be used as an indicator, “Neat in Person” or an indicator
that describes the appearance of the Police should be included. Force Men & Women need
to be encouraged when they have acted in good fate, exercise due diligence, and served
exceptionally in the discharge of their duties.

10. FRAMEWORK AND INDICATORS - Recommendation
Develop a Framework comprising of Indicators that provide adequate
measure for the Outcomes/Benefits the CRU hopes to achieve. Below are
recommendation for consideration;
BENEFITS
Happiness Protection End Impunity Justice
Design a 4-Dimensional Framework comprising of these Domains or Dimensions:
 Happiness
 Protection
 End Impunity
 Justice
Develop and provide definitions (with examples) to minimum of three
Indicators under each Dimension to specifically measure the Dimensions
WHAT GETS MEASURED GETS DONE!

11. FRAMEWORK AND INDICATORS - Recommendation
PUNISHMENT
Reports showed some Officers found culpable were dismissed,
penalized or being investigated. This is a plus to show that actions are
being taken on complaints. The CRU may also consider that cases
under investigation should have timelines for closure. For instance,
cases reported under investigation in Q1 should be closed and
reported in Q2 Report. This will endear Citizens to embrace the CRU as
a reliable channel to get timely justice.
REWARD & MOTIVATION
While it is ideal to punish misbehavior so as to deter others, it is equally
of greater advantage to reward behaviors we hope to see our Police
force display. This is why it is important to include indicators that can
measure the experience of Citizens in their interactions with the Police.
"BELIEVE IT! HIGH EXPECTATIONS ARE THE
KEY TO EVERYTHING." - SAM WALTON

12. FRAMEWORK AND INDICATORS – Review of Reports
Three Indicators stand out from the table above:
 Professional Misconduct – 49% (Lagos – 27%, FCT – 13%, Rivers – 8%).
 Demanding Money for Bail – 18% (Lagos – 18%, Rivers – 15%, FCT – 11%).
 Excessive Use of Force – 13% (Lagos – 26%, FCT – 18%, Rivers – 8%).
Indicator 30 Days Q1 Q2 Q3 Total
Excessive Use of Force 22 313 42 98 475
Dirty In Person 0 7 1 0 8
Distress Call 123 0 0 0 123
Traffic Related 49 36 26 1 112
Unrelated/ False 66 0 0 0 66
Incivility 75 53 2 0 130
Demanding Money For Bail 135 178 202 144 659
Professional Misconduct 623 396 597 154 1770
Benefit/ Entitlement Related (NOK) 174 49 11 5 239
Police Involvement in Civil Case 0 22 25 3 50
1267 1054 906 405 3632
While the reports show over 300% decline in complaints, “Excessive Use
of Force” has grown over 400% from Nov 2015 when the 30-Days Report
was issued.

13. FRAMEWORK AND INDICATORS – Review of Reports
Three Indicators stand out from the table above:
 Professional Misconduct – 41% (Lagos – 33%, Ogun – 10%, FCT – 8%).
 Demanding Money for Bail – 15% (Lagos – 18%, FCT – 13%, Rivers – 7%).
 Benefit/ Entitlement Related (NOK) – 12% (Lagos – 27%, Rivers/FCT/Delta – 9%,).
Clearly, the two Indicators that need further examination and
monitoring are Professional Misconduct & Demanding Money for Bail.
Indicator 100-Days %
Excessive Use Of Force 84 4.32
Dirty In Person 2 0.10
Traffic Related 54 2.77
Incivility 117 6.01
Demanding Money For Bail 298 15.31
Professional Misconduct 801 41.16
Benefit/ Entitlement Related (NOK) 224 11.51
Extortion 86 4.42
Police Report Related 14 0.72
Police Involvement in Civil Case 67 3.44
Inaction 54 2.77
Abuse of Power 145 7.45
Total 1,946

14. Excessive
Use Of Force
Dirty In
Person
Unrelated
/ False
Incivility
Demanding
Money For Bail
Professional
Misconduct
Benefit/ Entitlement
Related (NOK)
Police Involvement
in Civil Case
Distress
Call
Traffic
Related
NC 23.58 75.00 10.61 19.23 20.33 19.77 15.90 32.00 24.39 32.14
NE 3.16 - 19.70 0.77 3.95 1.92 5.44 4.00 4.88 1.79
NW 3.37 - - 2.31 2.73 4.58 6.69 6.00 7.32 0.89
SE 13.47 - 6.06 6.92 17.15 12.43 10.04 20.00 2.44 6.25
SS 20.84 - 13.64 16.15 30.96 22.60 25.94 12.00 20.33 18.75
SW 35.58 25.00 50.00 54.62 24.89 38.70 35.98 26.00 40.65 40.18
Excessive Use of Force is
rampant in SW (Lagos, Ogun,
Oyo), NC (FCT, Nasarawa), & SS
(River, Edo, Delta)
Dirty in Person is reported NC
(75%) and SW (25%). NC – FCT &
Kogi. SW – Lagos.
Unrelated / False is most
captured in SW (Lagos), & NE
(Bauchi, Taraba)
Incivility is excess in SW (Lagos,
Ogun) and NC (FCT, Plateau).
Demanding Money For Bail is
prevalent in SS (Rivers, Delta), SW
(Lagos, Ogun) and NC (FCT).
Professional Misconduct is more
likely to occur in SW (Lagos,
Ogun), SS (Rivers, Delta), & NC
(FCT, Benue)
Benefit/ Entitlement Related
(NOK) is high in SW (Lagos,
Ogun), SS (Rivers, Delta), & NC
(FCT, Benue/Niger)
Police Involvement in Civil Case
is frequent in NC (FCT), SW
(Lagos, Ogun), & SE (Ebonyi,
Enugu)
Distress Call is experienced more in SW
(Lagos, Ogun) and NC (FCT, Kogi/Kwara), &
SS (Delta, Rivers)
Traffic Related is often reported in SW
(Lagos, Ogun) and NC (FCT, Nasarawa), &
SS (Rivers, Cross Rivers)
FRAMEWORK AND INDICATORS – Review of Reports

15. www
Calls
T E C H N O L O G Y

16. COMPLAINTS COMMUNICATION CHANNELS
The CRU excellently adopts and adapt latest communication channels such as
Social Media to receive Citizens’ complaints.
0805 700 0001
0805 700 0002 0805 700 0003
@PoliceNG_CRU
www.facebook.com/npfcomplaint
complaint@npf.gov.ng
npfcomplaint@gmail.com
www.npf.gov.ng/complaint

17. COMPLAINTS COMMUNICATION CHANNELS
The CRU excellently adopts and adapt latest communication channels such as
Social Media to receive Citizens’ complaints.
Channel / Platform 30 Days Q1 Q2 Q3 Total %
Phone Calls 1,012 797 537 294 2,640 72.69
WhatsApp 119 179 166 55 519 14.29
SMS 46 12 10 2 70 1.93
Email 40 25 51 19 135 3.72
Twitter 26 14 85 20 145 3.99
Facebook 14 10 22 6 52 1.43
Blackberry Messenger (BBM) 5 10 3 1 19 0.52
Via Hard Copy Letter 5 7 32 8 52 1.43
1267 1054 906 405 3,632
Nov 13, 2015 to Sept 30, 2016 = 305 Days
Total Reported Complaints = 3,632
≈ 12 Complaint Per Day!
Period Complaint Per Day
2015 (31 Days) 41
Q1 (91 Days) 12
Q2 (91 Days) 10
Q3 (92 Days) 4

18. COMPLAINTS COMMUNICATION CHANNELS
73% of Complaints come from Phone Calls – making the phone lines Toll Free
would encourage more Citizens to report.
Ensuring also that CRU Agent are multilingual including the ability to
communicate in Pidgin-English, will go a step further to encourage Citizens to
report. Region Total %
North Central (NC) 754 20.76
North East (NE) 112 3.08
North West (NW) 147 4.05
South East (SE) 454 12.50
South South (SS) 847 23.32
South West (SW) 1,318 36.29
3,632
North East and North West have the least complaints – with no single complaint
from Kebbi State, Jigawa (2), Yobe (50), Gombe (7), Sokoto (9), Ekiti (11), and
Borno (13).
Is this a case of “No Issue”, lack of contact with Police Officers or lack of
awareness? Clearly, it appears to be of lack of awareness of CRU or
affordability of communication channels.
Thought should be given to the number of CRU Agent per State; statistically, it
would make more sense to assign more Agents to SW, SS, and NC as more
Complaints are received from these regions.

19. CAUSE & EFFECT – Not That Straight In This Case!
The sharp reduction in total
number of complaints against
the police during the period
under review (June-September,
2016) as against the second
quarter can be attributed to the
fact that police officers are
becoming more professional in
carrying out their policing duties,
awareness about the medium
provided to the public to report
misconduct and the stand of the
current leadership of the Force
on zero tolerance to all forms of
professional misconduct.
HOW CORRELATED IS DROP IN COMPLAINTS WITH
PROFESSIONALISM OF THE POLICE?

20. CAUSE & EFFECT – Not That Straight In This Case!
With just 3,632 Complaints in 305 days (less than a year), the complainants are
a weak representation of the Population and it is too early to reach the
conclusion that the Police are becoming more professional in carrying out
their policing duties!
Questions:
Does a high number of crime complaints indicate an increase in victimization (a
bad thing) or an increase in people’s confidence in the police (a good thing)?
Does a high number of arrests indicate that the police are engaging in
aggressive enforcement (a good thing) or that they are not being proactive and
are allowing crimes to occur (a bad thing)?
High numbers of citizen complaints may indicate an abusive police
force, but they may be an indication that the complaint process is well
publicized and the filing process is free of barriers.
It follows, then, that an indicator should rarely be used on its own. To interpret
changes in ambiguous indicators, you should always use a group or “basket”
of indicators relating to the same policy objective. Baskets of indicators
provide a more valid, reliable, and rounded view of policy progress.
(Vera Institute of Justice, 2003, p. 7).
Selected International Best Practices in Police Performance Measurement.
RAND Center on Quality Policing, Technical Report (Robert C. Davis)

21. CONCLUSION
It is first and foremost commendable for the Nigeria Police Force to
take the giant step of embracing global standard of policing by
soliciting complaints from members of the public and giving requisite
feedback on actions taken on such complaints. The framework
guiding this process need to be defined and refined to meet
standard practice that will elicit the right feedback leading to a
reliable, valid and verifiable conclusion of the progress of the Police.
BENEFITS
Happiness Protection End Impunity Justice
WHAT GETS MEASURED GETS DONE!

22. Reference –
REPORT OF FIRST 30-DAYS, December 2015.
CRU First 100 Days Report, Progress So Far. February, 2016.
2016 First Quarter Report. April, 2016.
2016 Second Quarter Report. July, 2016.
2016 Third Quarter Report. October, 2016.

23. Analyst: Wale Micaiah
e: walegate@yahoo.com
m: 08078001800
w: www.statisense.com
Freely share, freely use and
freely acknowledge the
source – © Wale Micaiah