Officers who join the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) and the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) next year will use a new curriculum that will incorporate community policing.
The curriculum, which is currently being drafted on by experts from both services, will be presented to the Inspector General of Police David Kimaiyo for analysis before approving it.
According to Dr Salim Ndemo of the National Taskforce on Community Policing, there is need to incorporate the officers as most of the terrorists in the country were hiding in such departments.
“Terrorists are known to hide in forests and it will take both parties to weed them out,” he said.
Ndemo said that police officers needed to be well equipped with skills and weapons that will ensure the community policing works effectively.
“We intend to ensure that the officers first look into peaceful ways of achieving national and county peace especially through the Nyumba Kumi Initiative. This will also help in managing cross border terrorism,” he added.
Ndemo argued that the current curriculum did not give any emphasis on community policing and hence could not be able to curb local crime well. He added that they were already holding talks with the Immigration and Internal security ministries to look for ways they can incorporate their officers in a bid to curb crime.
He was speaking at the Kenya Wildlife Service Training Institute where he added that criminal footprints would make it easier to track down wrongdoers.
According to Dr Francis Sang of the Community Policing Initiative, the new curriculum will be beneficial as it will bridge the gap between citizens and security organs.
“We want to ensure that there is no fear between the two parties. This will help build trust between the two parties, hence create a better platform for us to work with,” he said.