Rogue police officers make nonsense of the police motto ‘Utumishi Kwa Wote’ (service to all). Indeed, police officers come handy in various situations and have on many occasions done commendable work.
But while we celebrate those to whom policing is a calling, there are a few who use the police service as a cover to perpetrate crime.
Of late, some police officers have been involved in the theft of money from banks and security firms’ vans transporting large sums of cash.
Thus, the need to sanitise the police service cannot be overemphasised. We cannot have a situation where police officers become extortionists, robbers, murderers, drug traffickers and kidnappers, yet fold our hands and pretend all is well.
For years now, citizens have complained of police harassment with little being done about it by those in authority.
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However, having taken cognisance of this, the new National Police Service Commission (NPSC) has taken elaborate steps to reclaim the image of the police.
The dismissal of 298 officers in a few moths is a step in the right direction. By ensuring all officers are in uniform while on duty and that no off duty officer carries a gun, incidences of crime in which off-duty officers lend out their uniforms and arms to criminals will be contained.
NPSC should take this sanitisation task seriously and push it to its logical conclusion. Many times before, tougher action against rogue officers has been promised, with little to show for it as more officers engage in criminal activities.
