Interior Permanent Secretary Karanja Kibicho has indicated that the new reforms being made in the National Police Service (NPS) detail plans to raise entry grades for police recruits.
The first phase of the recruitment apparently targets over 5,000 university graduates hence doing away with the perception that the police forces only recruit failures of National Examinations.
Speaking during an interview with a local media station, Kibicho reiterated that the new changes are expected to introduce highly skilled manpower into the police forces.
The initial requirements for the recruitment of officers in the police service is a minimum entry grade of D+ and above in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE).
Read: 15 Kenyans Killed By Police, 31 Others Injured In Curfew Enforcement – IPOA
“Modalities have already been put in place to change the service from being the place where parents take their children who have failed in national examinations. In the next recruitment, half of the recruits shall be cadets. We must move to change our recruitment procedure and the training curriculum in order to conform with the international standards,” said Kibicho.
Consequently, the PS linked the extrajudicial killings, corruption and police brutality to low educational standards in the service adding that the vices are can be addressed through employing highly skilled manpower and better training.
These new reforms were part of the changes proposed by the former Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet.
During his time in office, Boinet emphasized on the need to construct new houses for police officers as well as a new training curriculum to steer changes and positive growth in the police service.
This comes at the time the country has been exposed to different incidences of police brutality, with deaths reported as a result of the same.
In a report by the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA), police officers are reported to have contributed to the increased extrajudicial killings, police brutality and corruption in the country.
For instance,15 people have been killed by police and 31 others left with serious injuries as the authorities implemented government measures aimed at containing the spread of the novel Coronavirus.
Ultimately, in curbing this, IPOA recommended stiffer measures for officers found guilty of the same.
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