Officers turn to Bible in war on crime

Stephen Mwangi swears that for the 27 years he has been an administration policeman, the public has always viewed him as the villain.

But the Nyeri-based chief inspector of police says he hopes for the day when the public will embrace his efforts in ensuring their safety saying he has always worked with diligence.

“I want when the public sees me in uniform, they get the perception of a friendly figure and not a brutish officer who is always ready to intimidate them,” he says.

His dilemma perhaps personifies the wishes of the entire police force, and like several of his colleagues in Central Province, they have turned to prayers to try and change the tattered image of the force and hopefully bridge the wedge between the law enforcers and the public.

Many challenges

The Administration Police officers held prayers in Nyeri town on Friday where they sought divine intervention for the many challenges facing them.

Apart from a crisis of perception, the larger force has of late been embroiled in bigger crises such as some of its officers facing investigations for the discovery of arms cache in Narok and lack of credibility for officers guarding cash in transit.

In Central Province, officers are faced with the huge task of dealing with illegal gangs such as Mungiki and illicit brews among other challenges.

But in the eyes of the police officers, all that can be changed if the public viewed them in a friendlier way since they would be willing to share intelligence information.

And what better way to help change those perceptions than invoke the word of God at a public square, and inviting outsiders to witness the force’s “softer” side.

The officers’ strategy of image change seemed to have worked as several residents attended the prayers, and those who did not at least had the chance to witness that such a thing was taking place.

The prayers were held on a weekday when the town is teeming with people from all walks of life, ranging from the employed and those who visit to seek services from government offices.

The officers used the occasion to disparage perceptions of the police as a brutal force and urged the public to view them as they would their own brothers and sisters.

The priest who led the mass, Fr Samuel Gachanja, set the mood by declaring in his sermon that police officers were usually unrecognised despite the hard and noble duty they do to protect the public.

“If people arrive at a scene of accident and there are civilians and police officers injured, they will first rescue the former and not the policemen,” he argued.

He said police should be appreciated since without their services, the world would be an insecure place to live in.

The Central provincial AP commander, Mr Joseph Chepkeitany, said the prayers were meant to instill discipline in the officers. “The gun is not enough in fighting crime, we need to change the character of the officers as well by instilling in them Christian values,” he said.

During the prayers held at an open ground at the provincial headquarters, the officers presented guns, shields, batons and bullet proof vests for blessings.

The officers brought in the items one by one with the priest placing a hand on them. The officers on the other hand, brought food including bananas and maize flour, perhaps to symbolize the fruits of their labour.

Most of the 200 officers at the mass actively participated in the prayers, loudly singing hymns, and reading verses from the Bible.

But despite the officers’ efforts, perceptions, it seems, are hard to change. Mr Stanley Maina, a trader who runs a stall a few meters from the prayer venue, was not convinced the ceremony marked a new beginning for the law enforcers.

“A policeman will always be a policeman,” he said accusing the police of taking bribes and convicting people on trumped up charges. “If a policeman gets saved it’s a waste of time because their behaviour will always be the same. Only God can change them,” he continued.

Central deputy provincial commissioner Ms Ann Ngetich, who attended the prayers, warned administration police officers against taking bribes to condone the sale of illicit brews. We have to keep asking ourselves why these brews are still available when we have officers in charge of those areas, she said on the sidelines of the prayer meeting, which it was announced would be made an annual event.