Policing for Disaster Risk Management in Ethiopia

The case of Addis Ababa, Dire-Dawa and Adama

Abstract

This study examines effectiveness of Ethiopian police in disaster risk management. Data was collected from 384 respondents utilizing a mixed-methods triangulation design. Both Quantitative and qualitative data has been collected from community members, police officers, and disaster management personnel by using questioners and interview. Quantitative analysis has been done by using descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression model to assess the effectiveness of police in disaster risk management. Findings has indicted that police involvement in disaster risk management such as in emergency planning, preparedness and prevention is very low. Twenty six percent (26%) of respondents stated that police made inadequate participation in identifying vulnerable populations and evaluating risk related development strategies. Additionally, 33% thought that police involvement in the creation of early warning systems is very low. Furthermore, 40.1% reported as police was "very ineffective" and 29.43% of respondents stated as they were "ineffective," which means that almost 70% were unhappy with police disaster risk management practice. The results of regression analysis indicate that police disaster risk management practice has significant effect on the overall effectiveness of police disaster management. R² value of 0.95 implies that 95% of police effectiveness in disaster management variation is explained in disaster risk management phases. Interview results also confirmed that police actions are still reactive. This is due to inadequate inter-agency coordination, reactive engagement in formulation of strategies and resources constraints, and limited preparedness. Therefore, it is recommended to improve disaster training, resources mobilizations, inter-agency coordination, and proactive preparedness culture to improve police effectiveness in disaster risk managements. Findings of this research will be used for further research, education and policy reform.

    Keywords: - Disaster risk management practice, police Challenge, police effectiveness in Disaster Management