Swoops not best way to address insecurity

Kenya: As much as we appreciate police efforts to beat back the wave of crime and terrorism in the country, these efforts must be done within the confines of the law to avoid antagonising the citizenry.

Police swoops in Mombasa are becoming the norm even as they raise public outcry on the manner of their execution. Hundreds of people were recently arrested inside a nightclub that operates legally and faced various charges in court yesterday.

These random swoops infringe on people’s freedom of movement and assembly that the Constitution upholds in the Bill of Rights. These blanket arrests can be tolerated only under a state of emergency that has not yet been declared.

The police must learn to act on targeted intelligence, which should lead them to specific groups and individuals either suspected or confirmed to be indulging in subversive activities.

Experience has shown that the scattergun approach is counterproductive and at worst, sets up the public against the government. In truth, too many arrests have been made at the coastal town of Mombasa in the name of fighting terrorism, but none has led to conviction. Lack of sustainable evidence has always seen the suspects released by the courts. Instances abound where suspects are released after the greasing the palms of police officers.

This newspaper has insisted before that rapport must exist between the police and the citizens if the war on crime is to be won.

The opposite of this obtains where the police officers assume the role of bullies. Lack of trust and confidence in our police service, brought about largely by the canteen culture, has seen even those who would have volunteered vital information withholding it for fear of harassment.

It was everybody’s hope that the change from a force to a service would make some difference. Now it seems there is a long way to go.