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With a Civilian As Head of the Police, a Million Things Could Go Wrong, Right? [opinion]
Jan 09, 2012 (The Nation/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX) --
A civilian police boss could not wear a uniform, march, salute or shoot.
Hassan Omar Hassan and the selection panel he heads in the search for the chair and members of Police Service Commission cannot say they were not warned.
The police service, anxious about what thoughtless, careerist individuals would do, has cautioned that appointing a civilian as its leader could demoralise officers and, perhaps, inspire them into offering active resistance.
Civilians are the scum of the earth. They are the lawbreakers, criminals and miscreants who frustrate the existence of a lawful and orderly society.
Being the suspicious individuals they are, civilians need to be kept at arm's length and monitored closely, not given authority over a force that bears arms and protects the State.
Civilians do not know how to wear a uniform. They do not know how to march at parade or salute. They cannot shine their boots until you can see your reflection in them, or play in the police band. And they would not know the working end of a G3 rifle from a cooking stick.
Although the minister for Internal Security is a civilian, the police often rectify that quickly by sending him for secret training once appointed.
The President, who is the Commander in Chief, is not the civilian he appears to be, courtesy of night drills he undergoes during the first months in office.
Since the police do not recognise any authority other than when it wears a uniform, foisting a civilian on it would forcibly turn it into a training ground for people who could not enter the prestigious Kiganjo Police Academy in their youth.
Yes, the police need to reform, but they are quite capable of reforming on their own without the help of people who might be vertically challenged, with club feet, bad teeth and low weight.
If it is doctoral degrees Kenyans want, there are serving police officers with these. The same goes for masters and bachelors' degrees, diplomas and certificates.
The effect of these great qualifications has been seen in the numerous police reforms already under way - there are more housing units, better vehicles, great anti-riot gear and by far the most deadly rifles this side of the Sahara.
Asking these officers, who have brought so much change to a backward, short trouser-wearing, club-carrying police, to compete with civilians for a job made for them is betrayal of the highest order.
In the rush to embrace the new Constitution and its utopian nonsense about the police upholding human rights, a civilian boss might start playing populist politics with a criminal public, suggesting they should be allowed to hold demonstrations and go about their business without being hassled or shot at.
The net result of this would be a force badly in need of practice in the use of force, especially firearms, strong language and other modern policing tactics.
Having taken an oath to only work in the police, officers who cannot stomach a civilian commander would be hard put to find a different means of livelihood. They would be left with no alternative but to resist civilian authority - starting with a go-slow.
Demoralised officers would be aiming their guns at the head of a fleeing suspect, and only get him in the leg. The wastage of bullets would fly in the face of cost efficiency measures being undertaken to shield Kenyans from the shocks in the economy.
An officer would lift a truncheon to put down a rioting person, only to hit him half-heartedly, creating opportunity for his return for numerous subsequent demonstrations.
The next thing you know, police officers would be out on strike, and then there would be chaos all round as civilians run amok.
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