CITIZENS’ SATISFACTION WITH POLICE RECRUITMENT PROCESS: A CASE OF BOMET COUNTY, KENYA.

Frontiers in Humanities and Social Science Education, Research and Innovations for economic recovery

Abstract

Previous studies have examined citizens' perceptions of the police. However, studies on
the citizens’ perception of police recruitment are scarce. Thus, this study aimed at evaluating citizens' attitudes toward the recruitment of new police officers into the national police
service. The study's objective was to determine citizens' satisfaction with the way in which
police recruitment exercise is conducted in Bomet County, Kenya. The target population
for the study was 875,689 citizens. This study used a descriptive research design. The simple random sampling method was used to pick three Sub-Counties in Bomet County and to
identify the respondents for the study from the selected sub-counties. A questionnaire with
a series of statements on the Likert Scale was used to collect data. Analysis of the data was
conducted through frequencies, percentages, and Chi-Square. The results were presented
through frequency distribution tables. The study found that the respondents were not satisfied with the way in which police recruitment is conducted. The police recruitment exercise is still affected by police illegitimacy and other vices such as bribery, nepotism, favoritism, and discrimination. This study found police recruitment to be below a fair threshold
of accountability and transparency standards, which causes citizens’ dissatisfaction with
police recruitment exercises. The findings of this study provides significant insights to human rights organizations and other actors to advocate for proper implementation of police
recruitment reforms that would improve police recruited to the right standards.