Perception of factors influencing indiscipline among Administration Police Officers at Embakasi Area, Nairobi County.
Abstract
Police Departments worldwide are plagued by numerous incidents of excessive use of force,
torture, verbal abuse, dishonesty, abuse of authority, sexual assault, demand for sexual favors, and
discourtesy, among other forms of indiscipline. There are no official statistics on the number of
indiscipline cases among police officers despite IPOA and IAU reports of increased cases of
indiscipline and criminality by junior police officers across the country. This study sought to
investigate factors associated with indiscipline of the administration police officers at
Utawala/Githunguri area of Nairobi County. The objectives of the study were: to find out if there
is a relationship between DSA and police indiscipline by administration police officers; to assess
the correlation between job promotion issues and indiscipline by the concerned administration
police officers; to determine the extent to which transfer related issues is a contributory factor to
police indiscipline at the area of study; to establish whether an officer’s level of remuneration is
related to his/her level of indiscipline; and to identify measures to be taken to curb administration
police officers’ indiscipline at the area of study. A descriptive study design was used in the study,
with a sample size of 140 respondents. Data was collected through the use of key informant
interviews and Questionnaire. The study was conducted at NPS A Campus, Mihango AP Post and
Utawala/ Githunguri AP post and involved junior police officers, police supervisors, personnel
and officials from IPOA, KNCHR, NPSC and IAU. The study findings concluded that cheap
alcohol is the most prevalent type of DSA while the main implications of DSA among police
officers was decreasing confidence by the public and poor police performance. Ethnicity,
favouritism and corruption in promotions were the most prevalent job promotion issues while
implications of job promotion issues include poor police performance and increase in criminal
incidents. The most prevalent transfer related issues were unfair transfers done while the main
implications of job promotion issues were poor police performance and decreasing confidence by
the public. The study also found that financial rewards was the most prevalent remuneration issue,
with poor salary as the main concern. The study recommends that Government should provide
adequate funds to improve the working conditions and improve DSA Policy initiatives while
fairness in promotion and transfer should be maintained. Efforts should be made to motivate
officers while punitive disciplinary measures should be reduced. Further studies are recommended
in the other training institutions and areas in the country and benchmarking on best practices of
addressing police indiscipline in other countries.
Publisher
University of Nairobi
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United StatesUsage Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/Collections
- Faculty of Arts [606]
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