Assessment of the case filing system at Kabalagala Police Station, Kampala

Abstract

The study was about Case Filing System at Kabalagala Police Station, Kampala. The purpose of this study was to assess the efficiency of the system used to file Case Files at Kabalagala Police Station in view to recommend proper system for handling case files at the station. The objectives of this study were to; assess the system used to manage case files, determine other types of files kept and managed at the station, determine the challenges faced by the station in using the current system to manage case files and propose and recommend better systems of managing case files at the station. The study used qualitative methodology, case study design and data was collected from a sample size of 94 respondents who included the heads of departments, lower rank officers and simple random sampling technique was used to select respondents from the general public using interviews, questionnaires and observation methods. The study found out that, the station keeps case files in wooden open shelves that are old, the station do not use electronic filing despite having good conditioned computers donated for that purpose by the DANISH due to incompetent records officers, inadequate funding to the registry section thereby making it hard to replace torn files or broken furniture, the station assigns SD- references to files before investigation and change to CRB-reference once investigation begins. The study concluded that, electronic filing system or paperless filing system should replace the manual system to curb loss, misfiling and save office space, the station should employ or train their officers in records management, the station management should lobby for more funds from the police headquarter to purchase modern filing equipment, The study recommended that, trained record managers be employed, electronic case filing system be used to manage case files, more funds be allocated to purchase modern filing equipment and the station management should consult Makerere University management to provide training in records management to its staff.