By Cyrus Ombati
Police chiefs have asked the Independent Policing Oversight Authority to give their units more time to study a raft of regulations it has proposed before enforcing them.
The regulations are aimed at enhancing police accountability and improving police-community relations. Officers drawn from both Kenya Police and Administration Police said they needed time to study and understand the regulations.
“If you rush it (the proposal), police will shy away from some duties,” warned deputy director of police reforms King’ori Mwangi, adding that about 80 per cent of police officers go out of their way to do extra jobs while on duty.
Speaking during a stakeholder’s consultative forum to discuss the regulations, Mwangi advised against a “rush” to approve the rules.
Gitahi Kanyeki of AP said they needed more time to study and communicate to their personnel on the implications of the regulations.
Rules of operation
“What you are proposing has serious implications on the operations of the police. We need to be given more time to prepare our officers,” he said.
The proposals are aimed at preventing extra-judicial killings.
“What will an officer do, for instance, if a suspect commits suicide in a cell? Then it means all suspects should have isolation cells,” said another participant.
The regulations hold police officers liable for failing to protect suspects in their custody.
Officers who issue unlawful orders to their juniors resulting in the death or injury of suspects will be held accountable for their actions if the rules are adopted. On this, Kanyeki said, under their rules of operation, it is the officer on the ground who can determine what to do depending on the situation.
IPOA chairman Macharia Njeru took the officers present through the proposed rules.
