Challenges Facing the Implementation of Community Policing in Kenya: a Practical Approach to Community Policing in Kenya

The book discusses challenges facing the implementation community policing initiative in Kenya with a case reference to Kibera community policing pilot site, in Nairobi. Theoretical discussions about the challenges facing the residents and the police in community policing have not been appropriately documented in the existing empirical studies in Kenya. Secondly, observations about the empirically based research in Kibera, in order to be useful in building a body of knowledge, need to be generalizable to other pilot sites. The study therefore sought to generate baseline data that can be used to evaluate the success of community policing and make decisions on whether to expand the programme. The study identified the key constraints to implementation of community policing as follows: poor public image of the police force; poor customer service procedures within the police force which discourage the residents from reporting crime and belief by the residents that crime is a source of livelihood for some people hence it would be difficult to eliminate. The study provides recommendations for the community and the police which if applied will see a vibrant crime prevention strategy in Kenya.