MST-Department of Security and Correction Science

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Browsing MST-Department of Security and Correction Science by Subject "Administration Police"

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    Disciplinary Procedures and Justice for Accused Administration Police Service Officers in Nairobi City County, Kenya
    (Kenyatta University, 2021) Muniu, David Njoroge; Kibaba Makokha
    It had been observed that a number of Administration Police Service (APS) officers that had been subjected to disciplinary proceedings had appealed in court the outcomes of the disciplinary process citing procedural unfairness that resulted to unjust outcomes. The purpose of this study was to explore the nexus between disciplinary procedures and justice in the APS in Nairobi City County, Kenya and was anchored on theory of justice by John Rawls which states that “adapting two basic principles of justice would ensure a just community. The study had four specific objectives namely; to examine the influence of discretionary power of an arbiter on justice to APS officer in Nairobi City County, Nairobi, to assess the effect of use of past record of conduct in disciplinary procedure on justice to APS officer in Nairobi City County, Nairobi, to analyze the influence of responsibility of the burden of proof on justice to accused APS officer in Nairobi City County, Nairobi and to establish the changes required in disciplinary procedures to enhance justice to accused APS officer in Nairobi City County, Nairobi. A mixed research design of cross-sectional survey design and exploratory research design were employed on a target population of 679 APS officers stationed in Nairobi City County, Kenya. A sample size of 251 officers was requested to fill the questionnaires. Purposive sampling was used to get6 key informants (for in-depth information) who were senior police officers that had presided over disciplinary proceedings and two groups of 6 and 7 police officers totaling to 13 police officers that had been subjected to disciplinary proceedings to participate in focus group discussion (FGD). This research involved triangulation (use of multiple research tools) data collection methods consisting of questionnaires to collect quantitative and qualitative data from respondents, FGD and interviews to collect qualitative data. Reliability of the instrument was tested by using the internal consistency technique of Cronbach‟s Alpha. A coefficient of 0.79was accepted as a measure of reliability. Descriptive statistics were used to present quantitative data in form of tables while qualitative data were coded into categories to develop themes to corroborate findings from the questionnaires. The study established that the majority of presiding officers are not independent in making decisions and are not experienced in application of their discretionary power in Orderly Room Proceedings (ORP), it further found that reliance on past records of an accused officer influences the outcome negatively. The study outcomes showed that there is no strict presumption of innocence in disciplinary proceedings and the burden of proof was clearly defined. The study determined that there was need for change on disciplinary procedures in APS and recommended that presiding officers be trained and retrained on disciplinary process, past record of an accused police officer to have a limited life National Police Service Commission (NPSC) to be devolved to handle disciplinary matters and the burden of proof to be squarely on the prosecution.