Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Police Local Partnership Boards in Sierra Leone, 2006

The aim of this research project was to understand how the Police Local Partnership Boards (PLPBs) in Sierra Leone function, including what they achieve, and how they relate to the local community and the Sierra Leone Police (SLP).

The objectives of the study were to establish:

• to what degree the PLPBs are representative of the local community (whether they are composed primarily of the local business or socio-economic elite) and how members are selected
• to what degree the goals actively being pursued by the PLPBs are set by the community or the SLP
• whether there are any hindrances to the sustainability of the PLPBs
• the types of intelligence that the PLPBs provide to the SLP and how the SLP evaluate the utility of that intelligence
• whether the PLPBs have brought any crime prevention benefits to the community, PLPB or SLP
• whether local PLPBs vary, and the possible reasons for these variations

The dataset comprises semi-structured qualitative interviews with local unit commanders and community police officers in four police divisions in Freetown (Sierra Leone's capital); interviews (multiple participants) with executive and general members of the PLPBs in the four divisions; and summaries of interviews held with community focus groups in the four divisions.

A previous qualitative study by the same principal investigator, Multilateral Policing in Africa: its Nature and Socio-Political Impact in Uganda and Sierra Leone, 2003-2005, comparing forms of policing in the two countries, is held at the UK Data Archive under SN 5314. Further information about these studies and other research projects on African policing may be found on the principal investigator's Welcome to African Policing web site.