Despite millions spent on human rights training and constitutional safeguards, the culture of impunity within the force remains stubbornly unbroken.

The curriculum is clear, the laws are explicit, and the funding has been substantial. Yet, the Kenyan police force continues to operate with a brutality that suggests the lessons on human rights have fallen on deaf ears. For decades, civil society and international partners have poured resources into "sanitizing" the force, hoping to transform it from a regime-protection unit into a service for the people. The result, however, is a paradox: a police service that is better trained on paper but remains "trained savages" in practice, terrorizing the very citizens they swore to protect.

The DNA of Impunity

The Constitution of 2010 was supposed to be the watershed moment. It barred law enforcement officers from the abuse of power and established the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) to check excesses. However, the institutional culture of the National Police Service (NPS) appears immune to these legal antibodies. Officers on the ground still resort to extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and excessive force during protests, treating the badge as a license to oppress rather than a symbol of duty.

Experts argue that the failure lies not in the syllabus but in the command structure. "You cannot train a recruit to respect human rights in Kiganjo and then deploy them to a station where the OCS demands bribes and the Commander orders violent crackdowns," a security analyst explained. The toxic socialization of new officers into the "brotherhood of silence" ensures that misconduct is covered up, and whistleblowers are punished. The training becomes a bureaucratic box-ticking exercise, irrelevant to the daily reality of policing.

• The Gap Between Law and Order: While the Standing Orders have been revised to align with international standards, the operational orders given during crises often implicitly encourage the use of lethal force.
• Public Trust Deficit: The continued brutality has widened the chasm between the police and the public, leading to a breakdown in community policing and intelligence gathering.

A Systemic Failure

The label "trained savages" is harsh, but it reflects the deep frustration of a populace tired of burying its young men. The failure of the human rights courses indicates that reform cannot be achieved through workshops alone. It requires a fundamental overhaul of the recruitment process, the welfare system for officers, and the political will to hold top commanders criminally liable for the actions of their juniors.

As calls for accountability grow louder, the police leadership stands at a crossroads. They can continue to defend the indefensible, or they can finally accept that a modern police force cannot coexist with colonial-era tactics. Until then, the training manuals will remain gathering dust, while the streets remain stained with blood.