Rampant crime in Kenya a result of failed community policing

By Hudson Unguku | 1yr ago | 4 min read

That a couple in the city is hijacked, their vehicle commandeered some kilometres away from where their badly mutilated bodies are dumped, is an indictment of a terribly failed community policing strategy that was expected to disrupt such a premeditated crime.

The gruesome murders of Rachel Kanini and her Nigerian boyfriend, Olujobi Gbenga, are a pointer to a widening gap between the community and police.

Kanini and Gbenga are suspected to have been kidnapped somewhere around Muthaiga on June 26 before their bodies were discovered in Ruai, some 30 kilometres from where the couple was first lured into the death trap.

As much as the incident might be treated as one of those usual murders, it has exposed the country's failed community policing strategy that was supposed to forestall crimes through intelligence-led policing.

How Kanini and Gbenga's killers had the audacity and time to kidnap, brutalise and torture them to death without being noticed even by a dog when the bodies were dropped remains a puzzle that shames Kenya's level of alertness.

Yet, the essence of community policing when it was launched in 2005 by former President Mwai Kibaki was to enable the public and police to collaborate in preventing such spine-chilling crimes.

The strategy was introduced in a bid to fight runaway insecurity following a series of macabre killings in fast-growing Ngong and Kiserian settlements.

The thinking behind the concept was that police and citizens would share information and intelligence on crime, criminals and suspicious people living amidst them. Unfortunately, the launch never went beyond the pomp that ushered community policing, which has never found footing other than experiencing several false starts as various segments of society try to experiment with it. Amid the confusion surrounding the concept, crimes and terror continue to thrive, and no wonder the world was in the dark the Shakahola deaths and subsequent burials took place in Kilifi County.

Had community policing been functional, Kanini and Gbenga could still be alive and Shakahola forest could not have made international headlines, all for the wrong reasons.

Such is the value of intelligence-led policing that it tends to disrupt most of would-be crimes, saving society of unnecessary pain as a result of insecurity.

Preventing crime

Eighteen years since community policing was launched, Kenya has not reaped the benefits of the strategy, which was first coined by Sir Robert Peels in 1829 when he conceptualised that: 'The key to preventing crime is earning public support. Every community member must share the responsibility of preventing crime, as if they were all volunteer members of the force. They will only accept this responsibility if the community supports and trusts the police'.

Sir Peels is regarded as the Father of Modern Policing after coining nine goals that revolve around the concept of community policing. Granted is only 18 years since community policing was launched and the country has not yet understood and adopted the strategy, although security analysts and observers still believe it remains the ideal concept for fighting crime and insecurity.

"This is the best concept for managing insecurity since every aspect of life is within the community. I am certain it can work since it has existed right since the initiation of the police," says Col (Rtd) James Chemiati.

The senior military advisor at Centre for Civilians in Conflict within East Africa region says the strategy failed at the implementation stage where proper coordination and trust lacks.

"Implementation for the success of the strategy is critical. I don't think there are proper mechanisms for sharing information. Besides, most police officers have not fully endeared themselves to the citizens," observes Chemiati, who once worked as head of security and intelligence at the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA).

To succeed in the war against insecurity, the security analyst maintains trust and confidentiality must be guaranteed when citizens share information.

"Otherwise, community policing can never work in an environment filled with suspicion. The information volunteered should remain confidential. We are not saying police officers are bad, but a few of them have frustrated the progression of community policing," states Chemiati.

Last month alone, more than 20 people were killed in terror-related attacks in Mandera, Wajir, Garissa and Lamu, raising concerns about security interventions in these counties. Down in Kilifi, the death toll is above 300 and still counting.

Some of these incidences can be forestalled or preempted when there is robust community policing, says Kenya Alliance of Resident Associations (KARA) chief executive officer Henry Ochieng.

Re-modelled

He is of the conviction that the concept needs to be re-modelled in such a way that it is community-driven rather than police-led as is the case currently.

But Ochieng, like Chemiati, has no doubt that community policing remains the best approach to combating crime.

"You can't understate the importance of community policing since everything revolves around the community. Everything that happens is a function of community policing; there must be a concerted effort between the police and community," observes Ochieng.

The KARA boss strongly believes communities should be allowed to own the process in order to build confidence and trust in the strategy, which he adds lacks a reward system for those volunteering.

"At the moment, the level of trust between police and the public is very low. The way community policing was structured is that it is government-driven rather than community-led. The process should be owned by communities," states Ochieng.

The role of police, according to the official, should be that of back-up and receiving information, and volunteers should be facilitated with transport as well as given some incentives to motive them.

"Community policing is the best approach to addressing our security challenges in our country, if properly implemented, we shall have minimal crimes," adds Ochieng.