TITLE:
Police Murders and Violence against National Police Officers in Abidjan (Ivory Coast)
AUTHORS:
Doh N’guessan Gerard Nanan
KEYWORDS:
Violence, Police Blunders, Proportionality, Legality, Responsibility, State of Necessity, Abidjan, Ivory Coast
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.10 No.4,
April
24,
2023
ABSTRACT: The study aims to analyze the relationship between police blunders and violence against police officers in Abidjan. Based on the theory of defiance, the working hypothesis maintains that the violence exerted against police officers appears as a self-defense reaction to the illegitimate exercise of force by certain police officers. One hundred and sixty (160) people determined using the reasoned choice method participated in the survey. The collection and data collection techniques are interview, observation, questionnaire and documentary research. Our investigations show that violence against National Police officers in Abidjan most often occurs during dynamic situations (demonstration, riot, crowd, etc.) between security forces and citizens, in which citizens protest against the use of force by the police. Indeed, some police officers, using the power conferred on them by legislation to repress certain actions of citizens, often act beyond the legal framework. This use of police force, which does not obey the founding principles of the use of force, in particular proportionality, legality, responsibility and necessity, is not accepted by the populations who are victims of it. Thus, the violence exercised against police officers appears as a self-defense reaction to the illegitimate exercise of force by certain police officers.