Police reform has now been abandoned

The true measure of a reformed society is reflected in the performance of its police officers. The police are the everyday institution that citizens encounter in their quest for security and justice, and a visit to a police station is the best gauge of how far we have gone or need to journey to transform Kenya Police Service.

One night last week, I spent a few hours trying — unsuccessfully — to have a neighbour released, whose only offence was his audacity to report when he had been robbed at gunpoint.

His detention was not recorded in the OB, the OCS was unavailable and his deputy proudly announced that ‘we arrest first and then do investigations’. Worse still, an inebriated officer on duty would have tested the patience of Job.

I daresay my experience was more typical than unusual and confirms together with other recent events that we have a long way to travel before we get the service, professionalism, integrity and competence that Article 244 of the Constitution guarantees.

Ten days ago, the Independent Medico Legal Unit (Imlu) issued findings on patterns and trends of death by firearms during the period of 2009-2014.

READ: Police ‘gun down’ 233 in less than two years

Imlu accessed the post-mortem reports from Mombasa, Nairobi, Kakamega, Kisumu and Nyeri for that period and discovered that out of 1,873 deaths by firearms, 67 per cent, or 1,252, died at the hands of police.

Those who died at the hands of robbers or thugs were 13.9 per cent or 269, and 17 per cent were unspecified. Police duly dismissed the report despite the quality of the research, which was acquired from government post-mortem records.

"A JOB FOR FAILURES"

But the most horrifying conclusion from this report is that you are five times more likely to be killed by a policeman in Kenya than by a thug or a robber. That is hardly comforting news. Worse still, 86 per cent of those deaths by firearms took place in Nairobi.

You have been warned!

On top of the Imlu report came the Independent Police Oversight Authority (Ipoa) report on the Usalama Watch operation in Eastleigh, Nairobi, which indicated that the police’s stated intention was to flush out Al-Shabaab adherents and aliens, and search for weapons and IEDs.

The report shows that the operation was unplanned, unprofessional and most definitely unsuccessful. Harassment, bribery and detention in overcrowded cells were observed on a wide scale and Ipoa intends to proceed with prosecution against 29 officers.

Most extraordinary of all is that according to Ipoa, the police originally called the operation ‘Sanitisation of Eastleigh,’ which is reminiscent of the Nazi programmes to eliminate Jews.

This week’s recruitment exercise can hardly have enhanced morale or the reputation of the force either. By dropping educational standards and replacing quality with quantity, it suggests that the police is a job for failures.

However, judging by the Eastleigh disaster, the Imlu report and personal experience, police reform has unravelled. We may build superhighways and railways, give children laptops, and boast of devolution, but if police reform is derailed, we remain an undemocratic and troubled state.

[email protected] @GabrielDolan1