Is police service still grounded in 'utasemea mbele?'

Policing in Kenya has come a long way.

Prior to the introduction of the multi-party politics, the then Kenya Police force was used by the state to repress real and perceived political competitors.

This was a period best remembered for arbitrary arrests, torture, inhuman punishment, and detentions without trial.

The force was headed by commissioners, who were hired and fired at the pleasure of the president.

The police authority was so monolithic that there was virtually no reprieve upon arrest even if one had committed no crime.

A common refrain by police to pleas of innocence by their ‘victims’ was: “utasemea mbele.”

Although this literally means “you will explain to the higher authorities”, contextually it belittled whatever the arrestee was trying to say and conveyed a threat of imminent detention.

DEMEANING ARRESTS

The manner of arrest was even more demeaning.

Male suspects were grabbed at the back by the belt line of their trousers forcing them to tip-toe backwards towards the arresting officer.

No wonder at the time, the de facto requirement to be an effective policeman was simply to have stronger muscles than average mortals.

By early 1990s, the police had become a very powerful instrument of the state against political dissenters.

The then Directorate of Security Intelligence was still being referred to as the Special Branch as it had taken over the functions of the moribund Special Branch.

Special Branch officers were literally omnipresent.

Being ununiformed and extremely stealthy, they would pounce on unsuspecting individuals and whisk them to undisclosed destinations.

Not even family members would know where their kin had been taken upon arrest.

Those who came back with no life-long deformities were considered quite lucky.

Names of political leaders were not to be mentioned carelessly.

CONVERSATIONS IN WHISPERS

Political conversations were held in whispers while occasionally looking over the shoulders for any unfamiliar faces.

Today, thanks to the decades of resilience by civil society, human rights organisations and religious groups as well as the public’s clamour for a new constitution, policing in Kenya has achieved an impressive transformation.

The service is certainly not where we want it to be, but definitely, it is not where it used to be just half a dozen years ago.

We may also not have been too innovative by calling it the National Police Service like Rwanda, Burundi, and South Sudan, or by having an Inspector-General just like Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda.

But our police service has made outstanding advances and attained a maturity level that is hard to ignore.

The Constitution provides for two police agencies – Kenya Police Service and the Administration Police Service whose common duties are to provide assistance to the public, maintain law and order, preserve peace, protect life and property, and apprehend offenders.

But while the Kenya Police Service has additional duties that involve crime investigation and collection of criminal intelligence, the Administration Police Service additionally provides border patrol and protects government buildings, vital installations and strategic points.

Each of the two agencies is headed by a Deputy Inspector-General.

Alongside the two agencies is the Directorate of Criminal Investigation, which is headed by a Director.

The Director, like the Deputy IGs, answers directly to the Inspector General.

QUALIFICATIONS

To qualify for appointment as either IG or Deputy IG, a person must have a university degree, have had a distinguished career, have served in a senior management position for at least fifteen years, and have no previous criminal conviction.

In combining both the Kenya Police Service and the Administration Police Service, the National Police Service carries the ultimate police power.

To check use of excessive force, malfeasance and criminal behaviour among the police, a civilian Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) was created.

IPOA keeps watch on police operations and investigates police misconduct.

To ensure efficient administrative authority over the police service, the National Police Service Commission (NPSC) was established.

The Commission recruits, promotes, and transfers officers, disciplines errant ones, and determines the terms of service for the police service.

As the chief-executive of the police service, the IG implements policy decisions of the IPOA, coordinates police operations, and advises the government on matters of policing.

He also determines the distribution and deployment of police officers, organises the Service at national level, and manages police training institutions.

The IG also issues Service Standing Orders, which are administrative decrees that guide daily operations of every officer.

JOB SECURITY

Today, although the IG may be removed from office in case of gross misconduct, incapacitation, or bankruptcy, he still enjoys a substantial amount of job security.

This enables him to discharge duties without fearing for his employment, which is a sharp departure from the days of police commissioners who were never sure of being in office the following day, and had to sing the tune of the hiring authority at all times.
To remove the IG, anyone can petition the NPSC.

Unlike the years of yore when the dental formula, shape of feet, absence of body scars and other weird factors were the main qualifications into the police force, today police recruitment calls for applicants of high integrity and focuses on proactive and pragmatic training outcomes.

The three police basic training schools – Kenya Police College Kiganjo, GSU Training School, and Administration Police College, both in Embakasi, have adopted a harmonised curriculum developed by experts at the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development.

In addition, the CID Training School provides further training in crime investigation to officers.

DRILL

The police basic training curriculum begins with a drill.

Although its usefulness has been questioned, the drill inculcates into the recruit the necessary discipline, formats the muscles, and prompts mental alertness, all of which are necessary for the rest of the police training to be effective.

After training, officers can interpret and apply basic laws, handle a wide range of weapons, observe police administration procedures, and enforce the law accordingly.

The training course takes fifteen months that are divided into four terms.

Courses include, among others, communication, psychology, information communication technology, first aid, skill at arms, field craft and tactics, constitution, and penal code.

Other courses are police procedures, anti-riot drill, criminal procedure code, evidence act, human rights and gender, local acts, and traffic management.

In the final term, trainees take advanced courses in disaster and incidence management, skill at arms, field craft and tactics, and information communication technology.

They also take community policing, ceremonial parades, basic research methodology, criminal intelligence, criminology, and forensics investigation.

If well managed, the civilian oversight by IPOA, administration by the NPSC, and the advances made in the training curriculum can collectively mark a giant step towards the long desired police reform.

The writer is a Professor of Criminal Justice at Indiana-Purdue University, USA

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