Inspector General of Police should focus on changing police culture and behaviour

The police are the most visible manifestation of government authority in any country. While being under enormous pressure by both state and non-state actors to counter the increasing wave of crime and the new threats to national security, including those emanating from terrorism, the police must operate within the law and respect human rights at all times. Indeed, several reform initiatives targeted at the police in Kenya have been and continues to be subjects of discussion in several fora.

However, our police service is extremely far from winning back the confidence and trust of the public and this is mainly due to police violence. The public trust in the police has dwindled over the last few years. A 2016 survey by Transparency International Kenya showed that 27% of respondents in Nairobi and 22% in Kisumu chose not to approach the police when they fell into a situation that required their intervention. It follows that only in a compelling and unavoidable circumstances would such people approach the police.

The first phase of the police reform programme focused on four key areas: enactment of relevant legal and policy frameworks; building the institutional structure; enhancing professionalism, integrity and accountability; and strengthening operational preparedness, logistical capacity and capability. For this phase, the Kenyan taxpayer parted with a staggering KES 184 billion, which went into paying for development and recurrent expenditure of the police force.

The second phase focused on building on the progress of the first phase. It is estimated that it will ultimately cost KES 95.5 billion. Enactment of relevant laws and establishment of new institutional structures are the only true achievement of the reform programme so far. In addition to a renamed police force – National Police Service (NPS) operating under a single command structure, two separate independent institutions have been established as part of the efforts to build a transparent and accountable police body. These are the National Police Service Commission (NPSC) and the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA). NPSC manages the human resources elements of the Service, including recruitment of new police officers and vetting of existing ones for suitability and competence. While it is the most visible and publicised function of the NPSC, the vetting process has been criticised for failing to weed out persistent violators of human rights from within the police service.

IPOA on the other hand serves as an external civilian oversight mechanism for the Kenyan police. More than anything else, non-cooperation from the police has previously been identified as one of the main impediments to the efforts by IPOA to effectively discharge its mandate. Specifically, the immediate former Inspector General of Police, Joseph Boinett, had directed police officers not to co-operate with IPOA or allow its investigators into police stations without his express authority. Beyond the mere existence of new laws and institutions, there is little else for celebration. Independent assessments of the police reform programme have returned quite depressing verdicts. The programme has utterly failed to change the attitudes and habits of the police. A joint report by the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights and the Centre for Human Rights and Peace of the University of Nairobi published in 2015 found that the mind-set and institutional culture of the police had not changed even though it acknowledged that the laws, policies and guidelines were relatively new.

With the appointment of the new Inspector General (IG) of Police, Hillary Mutyambai, and the assumption of office by the new Chairperson and Commissioners of NPSC, the country must take a critical reflection on why the police reform programme thought to be the largest such initiative in Africa, is showing no meaningful indicators of success. The police must accept what actors outside of the force have been saying

for far too long: the focus of the reform programme must be re-thought. The emphasis of the programme since inception has been on enactment of laws and policies, establishment of new institutional structures, improving technical know-how, and acquisition of modern operational tools and equipment. These target areas are important, but they do not necessarily change the behaviour and culture of the police.

There is need to refocus the reform programme to ensuring accountability and changing the behaviour, habits and attitudes of the police. The police should adopt an approach which views institutional accountability as the paramount component of reform and as the foundation for further reforms. All aspects of the reform should be designed to achieve the core attributes of democratic policing which are responsiveness, accountability, protection of human rights, and transparency.

The country has over the years invested in technology and weaponry, but these alone do not guarantee changes in behaviour. The central key to a successful police reform process should embrace new practices and a shift in mental attitude. The new IG should also take a different approach from his predecessor and direct his officers to co-operate with oversight agencies such as IPOA.