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“We receive many complaints here and this requires such visits. We will keep visiting,” he said.
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The DIG also interacted with members of the public who were at the station seeking various services, getting a firsthand account of the quality of service delivery at the station.
Image: HANDOUT
The new Deputy Inspector General of Kenya Police Service Eliud Lagat on Tuesday made an impromptu visit to Mwiki Police station in Kasarani.
Lagat found residents waiting to be served.
The DIG was also heard complaining the station was dirty at that time.
“Making sure a station is clean does not require finances. It is an issue of leadership which should be looked into,” he said.
He also inspected the holding cells, a witness said.
He later told the Star he would continue to stage impromptu visits to various institutions to check on service delivery.
“We receive many complaints here and this requires such visits. We will keep visiting,” he said.
The DIG also interacted with members of the public who were at the station seeking various services, getting a firsthand account of the quality of service delivery at the station.
He said he appreciated the work done by the police and urged them to focus on continuous improvement in their service delivery to members of the public, and pledged his support to all officers who discharge their duties professionally.
This comes amid a push to digitize the Occurrence Book (OB) as part of its transition to incorporate over 5,000 services online.
The reports entered will be subject to monitoring by ward, county and regional commanders as well as the Inspector General and other top commanders.
The digital OB is part of the government policy to digitise service delivery for Kenyans.
Lagat said that digitising police OB is in line with the government’s policy of digitising services that are critical to service delivery to Kenyans.
So far, 76 police stations in and around Nairobi have had their OBs digitised in the plans amid financial constraints.
Police plan to roll out the exercise to other parts of the country to ease the reporting and recording of crimes and do away with manipulation cases at police stations.
Lagat who came to office last week said the exercise is moving on smoothly and that they have trained most personnel on how to handle it.
“This will guarantee transparency and accountability in police operations at the station level. The reports entered will be subject to monitoring by ward, county and regional commanders, the Inspector General and other top commanders,” he said.
In 2017, the National Police Service was urged to discard the physical OB that involved the manual recording of crime-related incidents at their stations.
Former Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki said last year the public has been raising concerns about the disappearance of files at police stations, hence the digital OBs will help to keep tabs on government records.
"The police OB has also been digitised, a move that will facilitate more efficient and real-time reporting of crimes and security incidents in the country," he said then.
"The digital OB was conceptualised to eliminate manipulation and disappearance of case records since complaints, statements, and details of criminal activities made at police stations will be uneditable."
The transition to digital services was meant to ease access to online services, with the Interior docket including four services with the ultimate goal of eliminating corruption by cutting out physical interactions and brokers.
In line with enhancing accountability to police officers, the ministry will also incorporate a police complaints system and civilian review of law enforcement officers on the Gava Mkononi platform.
Citizens can use the platform to file complaints against any officer to the Independent Policing Oversight Authority, while at the same time, the State agency can post the progress of investigations.
"The digitisation drive will also enhance the police complaints system and civilian review of law enforcement officers," Kindiki said.
Image: HANDOUT