Police officers should embrace logic

Encounters with the police have the capacity to leave one with a sense of bitterness, frustration and anger. Judging by the deportment of most police officers, it is easy to surmise that civility, morality and rationalisation do not form part of their curriculum and training. Where brawn would suffice, and that seems to be common denominator, many simply find the thought process tedious.

Haranguing the police is akin to whistling in the wind but, all the same, I will do so in the hope that a lull in the humming, no matter how momentary, would allow the more rational of our brethren in uniform to hear my whistling.

The police fall within the ambit of disciplined services yet they exhibit very little of that attribute. A change in name from Police Force to Police Service merely satisfied a constitutional requirement without changing the mentality acquired from training. A bigger percentage of police officers are more comfortable rendering force than service.

Monday this week, I was travelling from Utawala on a public service vehicle when on the approach to the Administration Police Training College (APTC) Embakasi, the bus driver let off a passenger where they customarily do, at least two hundred meters from the college entrance.

An Administration policeman guarding the entrance to the college and who had moved from his duty station towards the main road saw an opportunity, because the moment the bus approached him, he flagged it down. What followed was atrocious.

The bus ticketer was just above the stairs, facing inwards collecting fare from a passenger when without warning the policeman sporting sun glasses and a riffle violently pulled him backwards. I have no doubt it was by the grace of God the ticketer did not crack his skull on the tarmac below.

Those nearest the door froze in horror. Impulsively, I was tempted to hurl invective at the policeman; urge him to be humane, to think before acting, but the menacing gun and his mean look had a sobering effect. It occurred to me, in view of reported police atrocities, it was safer arguing with excitable, intoxicated machete wielding thugs than with such a mean spirited uniformed policeman.

While we were still trying to discern what the ticketer’s crime was, the AP pompously ordered the bus driver to take off without a thought to what happens to those who needed change and the losses the bus crew could make if passengers alighted without paying. Luckily, the shaken ticketer re-joined us almost fifteen minutes later. Your guess as to what transpired is as good as mine.

Where there is nowhere to report police excesses except to the police themselves, matters become dicey. In this regard, Rwanda has gone a step forward by establishing the Rwanda Investigation Bureau, an institution that is independent of the police with the authority to handle complaints against the police. Much has been said about police brutality, their dabbing in crime, hijackings, abductions, extra judicial killings, intimidation, corruption and the murder of colleagues.

There is no evil in society in which the police do not have a hand either directly or indirectly. According to available statistics, the police have topped the corruption charts for ten years

Traffic policemen, however, take top honours. They are the wealthiest amongst their colleagues, and that is because ‘side ventures’, a synonym for corruption, occupy their time.

They flag down motorists on the pretext of regulating speed even on bumpy, dusty roads under construction. Normally, on such roads, there is no signage on speed limit, market place approaches, no yellow lines, no zebra crossings, yet that is what guides motorists.

They insolently flag you down for driving at speeds over 50 Kilometres per hour on stretches where the legal limit is 110 kilometres. But then, would traffic police officers articulating atrocious swahili and unable to communicate in passable English, those who don’t understand the ranking system in the service comprehend the concept of road categorisation and speed limits?

It would be preposterous to think junior officers do this of their own volition. Being the automatons that they have been conditioned to become, junior officers are compelled to obey orders from their seniors who, as I once overheard a junior officer complain, demand a certain amount of money on daily basis. Obviously, this ‘revenue’ comes from clueless, hapless motorists.

Kenyans being in perpetual haste to nowhere, always seeking the easy way out of any situation, give bribes to be free. This is a vicious circle no legislation will break.

The only sure way to control mega corruption on the roads would be to disband the traffic police department; it is lecherous and serves no purpose. The National Transport and Safety Authority should be restructured and empowered to enforce traffic rules.