CRIMINAL PROFILING AND THE CHALLENGES OF CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION IN NIGERIA POLICE FORCE KOGI STATE COMMAND

The study examined criminal profiling and the challenges of criminal investigation in the Nigeria Police Force focusing on Kogi State Command. The specific objectives of the study included examining the mechanisms put in place to aid criminal profiling in the Nigerian criminal justice system, especially in Kogi State Police Command; an evaluation of the effectiveness of the mechanisms; identification of the challenges facing criminal profiling in the Nigerian criminal justice system, especially in Kogi State Police Command; and suggestions on how criminal profiling can be effective in the Nigerian criminal justice system. The Personality Theory of Criminal Behaviour was adopted as a choice of framework to buttress the study. A purposive sampling technique was adopted in which the study participants were purposively and systematically selected from the sample of 382 out of the total population of 9000 personnel of the Nigeria Police Force. To ensure that the research instruments were valid, a pre-test and proper scrutiny were conducted on every question in the questionnaire and the personal interview guides by five experts. The findings of the study revealed that the establishment of a police records management system, a forensic laboratory system where evidence from DNA sources is scientifically examined, and a central database for all Nigerians were the mechanisms put in place to aid criminal profiling in Nigeria. It was also discovered that criminal investigative analysis, behavioural evidence approach, and environmental psychology were approaches to profiling criminals. The study also established that the mechanisms and approaches used for criminal profiling in Nigeria were very relevant to the criminal justice system but appeared to be ineffective, resulting from inherent challenges such as bribery and corruption, computer illiteracy, lack of professionalism, inadequate funding and remuneration of police personnel and uncooperative attitudes of the members of the public, among others. It was recommended that professional psychologists should be recruited and form a separate department in the Nigerian Police Force; the police should be well funded and better remunerated to boost their morale and commitment to profiling, among others.