Challenges Facing Policing In Kenya Case Study Of Narok Police Station In Narok County

Abstract

ABSTRACT The study examined the challenges facing the policing performance of Police officers in Kenya a case study of Narok Police Station, Narok County. This study sought to understand why insecurity was still a challenge in Kenya despite continued recruitment of police officers annually. An exercise conducted in every sub-county in Kenya. The objectives of the study were: To examine the performance of police officers in relation to their policing duty, evaluate the impact of inadequate resources on policing and to evaluate terms and conditions of policing. From the objectives the study intended come up with appropriate measures to address these challenges affecting policing process. The study used survey design to collect data from the police officers with the help of questionnaires and direct interview with the respondents. The study population comprised of 95 police officers which corresponded to a sample size of 76 officers. Stratified and simple random sampling techniques were used to select the officers. Primary data was collected using questionnaires and interviews. Primary data was analyzed using frequencies and percentages with the help of excel, minitab and STATA statistical program. The study established that the police service was dominated by more male than female, majority of the officers were aged between 35 and 44 years and were married. All of the respondents were found to have an ‘O’ level or college education level. Having youthful people most of who were married presented an energetic and responsible workforce and was seen as an opportunity to improve policing performance. The study identified and prioritized legal/policy gaps on the basis of their rate of impact to effective policing performance. These included proper housing and accommodation of police officers, ambiguity on the procedure on good remunerative allowances, lack of clear guidelines on recruitment and deployment, inadequate guidelines on supervision and control, lack of clear guidelines on training and lack of guidelines on medical cover, injury and life compensation. Additionally, the Reservists level of training in security and policing was found to be low especially in areas of human rights preservation and peace building and conflict resolution. Training on weapons was fair and that can be attributed to frequent use and training using the firearms. Finally, the study found out that the police level of operational capacity was also low in some areas. This mostly resulted from inadequate patrol vehicles, lack of protective clothing and communication gadgets. It is evident that these challenges largely contribute to the rising level of insecurity and unless they are addressed the policing problems won’t be solved despite the fact that the government recruits police officers annually. Recommendations were made on the appropriate measures to address the challenges and improve the performance of police officers in their policing duties.