The National Police Service and the media have embarked on joint training to enhance collaboration between the two agencies.
Media Council of Kenya Director of Media Training and Development Victor Bwire, Secretary General of the Kenya Union of Journalists Eric Oduor together with the Kenya Editors Guild Ethics Committee chair Martin Masai led the training sessions at the National Police College Main Campus – Kiganjo on Wednesday.
They conducted a lecture for the Higher Training Course for cadets during which they informed the group how the media operates.
"The group shot questions at the media trainers seeking to know why and how things happen the way they see in the media," the National Police Service said in a statement on X.
NPS said the joint training will be escalated to various police training institutions and be cascaded to all levels.
The Service noted that the higher training course (HTC) is the highest and terminal promotional course in the national police service.
It is designed for training chief inspectors to become Gazetted Officers (Assistant Superintendent of Police) in line with the Service Standing Orders.
Gazetted Officers are the ones authorized to officially address the media.
This lecture was themed “Promoting dialogue between media and national police service”.
"The move aims to represent a significant step towards fostering mutual understanding and cooperation improving the flow of information between these two bodies," NPS said.
"The lecture touched on various thematic areas around improving relations between the National police and the media."
The initiative comes on the backdrop of a high-level consultation between the National police service's top leadership with news editors from mainstream media houses that was held at the National police headquarters a fortnight ago.
The joint training Initiative between the National Police Service and the media marks a pathway to fostering better communication and understanding of the two entities, officials said.
“By working with each other the two bodies can ensure effectiveness and efficient service delivery to the public,” Bwire said.
Journalists covering protests had complained of being targeted by police.
The police too complained the media was among others obstructing their operations.
This prompted the training sessions.
