THE ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN CRIME MITIGATION IN BAUCHI METROPOLIS

ABSTRACT The study examined the role of social media in crime mitigation in Bauchi Metropolis. Inrecent years, many communities in Nigeria, including the Bauchi metropolis, have experiencedanincrease in various types of crimes. The frequency and severity of crime in Bauchi metropolishave doubled compared to past decades, leading to a sense of fear and insecurity amongtheresidents. Against this, the study developed three research objectives to: find out contributionof social media in crime reporting in the Bauchi metropolis, examine the challenges faced by social media in crime reporting as well as to identify the possible solution to crime inBauchi metropolis. the study employed the use of functionalist theory to guide the research assumption. Survey research design was used in which structured questionnaire were used tocollect information from 400 respondents within Bauchi Metropolis. The data collected throughthequestionnaire was analyzed using frequency and percentage. The study found that the social media outfits are crucial in the achievement of society-wide objectives be it in the area of social, political, educational or security development. The social media outfits constitute one of themost important institutions of socialization and in fact, responsible for the distribution of ideas inthestudy area. Other institutions of socialization such as the family, educational institutions, political establishments etc. basically play reinforcement roles to the social media outfit byperforming their separate functions in the study area. This shows that media outfit impact onthesociety and determine dominant perceptions, values and attitude. Thus, the study recommendedthat: government should make it mandatory for every media outfit to create programs ondailybasis in crime prevention and control strategies. Indeed, they should provide policies about thecooperation between journalist and the law enforcement agents in crime reporting so that crimereporting can be easily accessible and quickly as well as ef ective and ef iciency on social mediaoutfit in gathering crime report. Keywords: Social Media, Crime Mitigation, Crime Reporting and News.