The need for strict implementations of a well driven urban and regional planning system in communities cannot be overemphasized as it will help in the security coverage and crime prevention of ungoverned spaces.
Record has it that there are some spaces that are ungoverned due to non-compliance or non-adherence to the lay down urban and regional plan framework which has made the policing of the said area a bit difficult.
Indeed, the urban and regional planning according to town planning experts revolve around master plan. The master plan is a development document which stipulates in detail how a city, town or settlement will grow. It is usually presented in two parts viz: graphics and writing and touches every aspect of human and societal development such as land, uses, population, economy, social life and security amongst others while it also makes provisions for other physical and social infrastructure needs of the people.
On security which is the centre point of this submission, the master plan grades the proposed settlement into different land uses -residential, commercial, industrial, institutional etc, and link the uses with communication routes. Some crimes are land use based while some are class based and that is why residential areas are further graded into low, medium and high residential densities with their individual characteristics while industrial areas are further graded into heavy and light areas.
However, the communication routes are also classified into trunks A,B,C to service and track roads. Cul-de-Sac type of roads are also introduced to serve some security purposes. A mastery of the provisions in a master plan aides security agencies in crime prevention in a community.
Crimes and other incidences of insecurity will be difficult to tackle in areas that are not planned because individual households are not easily identified as they appear fused together.
Houses are not numbered, streets are not well defined and ownership of structures are not easily traced since from day one, no house(structure) had plot numbers. Many of structures may be classified as illegal since their owners may not have approvals before commencement of construction. Registrations of structures will aid security and safety intelligence in the community or town and help government to govern those areas labelled as ungoverned space where criminally minded people hide and capitalize to wreak havoc on citizens. Record from some sources had it that rate of crime is always higher in an unplanned settlement compared to a planned settlement.
According to the National Coordinator POCACOV, CSP Ebere Amaraizu, it is however based on the foregoing that the police campaign Against cultism and other Vices(POCACOV) has widened its scope on its Pocacov stakeholders Town Planners Consultative Forum in partnership with relevant agencies to raise the awareness, carry on with the advocacy so that stakeholders will join hands to seek ways of addressing this and raising the bar to enable our ungoverned spaces to be captured thereby enhancing public safety and security as contained in the Nigeria police Public Safety and security framework and IGP Adamu workplan on crime management for a safe, peaceful and secured communities.
