The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) has been named as one of the worst police forces in the world, something which may not come as a surprise to many locals and tourists who have visited the country. The ZRP has been roundly criticised by locals for its indiscriminate use of spikes and has been accused of extorting motorists at the numerous roadblocks. President Robert Mugabe himself has also spoken against corruption from traffic police officers.
According to the World Internal Security and Police Index (WISPI) which was produced by the International Police Science Association (IPSA), the ZRP was ranked at position 102 out of 127 nations with a score of 0.438. The best-ranked force in the world was Singapore with a score of 0.898 while the best-ranked police force in Africa was Botswana with a score of 0.685. It was followed by Rwanda which had a score of 0.683. Globally Botswana and Rwanda ranked 47th, and 50th respectively.
Part of the report reads:
The countries are ranked based on the ability of the police and other security providers in dealing with security issues.
The aim of the WISPI is to, firstly, measure security provider performance across the four domains of internal security: capacity, process, legitimacy and outcomes.
Secondly, to see how these domains relate to each other and finally to track trends in these domains over time, and to inform the work of security providing agencies, researchers, and practitioners in the field of peace and conflict studies, criminology, and police studies.
Top 10 Performers in Africa, Global Rank in Brackets ():
- Botswana (47)
- Rwanda (50)
- Algeria (58)
- Senegal (68)
- Tunisia (72)
- Egypt (76)
- Burkina Faso (83)
- Ghana (85)
- South Africa (89)
- Morocco (90)
Top 10 Performers in the world
- Singapore
- Finland
- Denmark
- Austria
- Germany
- Australia
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Sweden
- Switzerland