| dc.description.abstract | The main purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of crimes
against property and their causes in the trimester periods of the year 2002-
2003 in Nairobi. This is because property crimes have become a common
problem in our society and are as such a destruction to the social fabric. To
achieve the above objective, Nairobi city was chosen because crime was
increasingly becoming a menace and hence a chronic social and more so
economic problem. A sample size of two hundred was chosen in order to reduce logistical and analytical problems. This sample was derived from two police divisions,
namely; Langata and Industrial Area. A sample frame was drawn and
proportionate stratified random sampling was employed.
Data collection was done in two successive stages, namely primary data and
secondary data. Primary data was collected by the use of questionnaire and
interview schedule whereas secondary data was collected from the Kenya
police department by the researcher.
The collected data was analyzed using the statistical package for social
sciences (SPSS). The package enabled the researcher to tabulate, cross
tabulate, and calculate the percentages, the medians, the standard deviation
and modes.Respondents were asked questions on the prevalence and causes of property crimes. Information gathered from the victims reinforced the fact that they
do not report all crimes committed against them citing the distance of the
police stations from the crime scenes and the level of police response. Police
statistics too do not reflect the true figures of crimes committed in their
respective stations.The employed were found to be the main victims of crimes against property.The causes of these crimes were stated as unemployment, population
growth, migration, poverty and poor policing.It was also found that it was mostly electronic equipments that were stolen from respondents' homes because the criminals had ready market for them.It was also established that these items were cheaper from the criminals.The relationship between police presence and crime commission was equally noted in this study. It was found that as one moved a distance away from a police station one experienced more crimes and vice versa. There is need
therefore to curtail the crime problem by improving accessibility to police
stations and by solving the problems that affect the economically active
segment of the population such as providing job opportunities, reducing
rural to urban migration by decentralizing industrial and urban growth,
reduction of drug abuse and most importantly by ensuring proper policing in
crime prone urban areas. | en |
