Police to hire 800 graduates to help in management

An Administration officer checks on the fitness of one of the recruits at 64 stadium in Eldoret for Soy recruit centre. [File Photo: SILAH KOSKEI/STANDARD]

NAIROBI, KENYA: At least 800 graduates are expected to join police service in August in a move aimed at bolstering its management.

Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i said yesterday the graduates would join the service in the rank of inspector.

“We want more elite team to join the service. We are ratcheting the calibre of management in the police,” the CS said.

Matiang’i, who spoke at the General Service Unit Training College in Embakasi, said they had also stepped up the quality of training of officers to address challenges the service faces.

The programme of hiring graduates was suspended in 2005 over concerns most of those hired at the inspectorate level lacked requisite experience to manage police operations.

“Most of the graduates lacked managerial experience to run the service prompting suspension of the programme. We don’t know what has changed that the National Police Service (NPS) wants to reintroduce it,” said one officer aware of the plans.

Every police officer above the rank of inspector is considered a manager as they are usually deployed as deputy station commanders and officers commanding crime branch among others.

The system was abolished when it emerged many holders of the offices lacked practical experience on police work, including manning the report office and cells, booking reports, patrols and even interrogation.

Thus, most of the specialists recruited directly as inspectors left the service. The exit was attributed to poor remuneration and working conditions, lack of clear promotion structures and deployment that do not consider individual officers’ skills.

Remuneration and deployment are largely determined by the rank, and not the skills.

Graduates are required to have degrees in criminology, law, public administration, sociology and psychology, police science, leadership and security management, education, architecture or an equivalent qualification from a recognised institution.

Successful candidates undergo a nine-month training before being posted.