Citation

Onyango RA. Acta Criminol. 2022; 35(3): 25-46.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, Criminological Society of South Africa)

DOI

10.10520/ejc-crim_v35_n3_a2

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Despite their critical role, there is little research available on front-line officials, particularly the police, as implementers of countering violent extremism (CVE) measures. The situation is noticeable in Africa where research about countering violent extremism that utilises primary data is either lacking or conducted by non-African experts with limited access to local law enforcement data. This study uses primary data collected from the Kenya Police Service (KPS) to understand the perceptions of police officers about the Amnesty and Reintegration Programme (ARP), a countering violent extremism strategy in Kenya, and how that might connect to their implementation of the programme. The study utilised simple random sampling based on 20 percent of gazetted officers in each designation (540 in general duty and 725 in specialised police units) resulting in a sample size of n=273 within the KPS. Bivariate analyses indicated a difference between specialised unit and general duty officers in various aspects of the programme, which may speak to the sustainability of the programme. In conclusion, the Amnesty and Reintegration Programme marks a radical paradigm shift from Kenya's hard militarised counter-terrorism approach to a soft countering violent extremism approach. Arguably, if the police do not deem countering violent extremism measures as serious, as demonstrated by the perceptions of senior police commanders, then countering violent extremism, as an approach, will fail to reach key goals.

Language: en

Keywords

Amnesty and Reintegration Programme; countering violent extremism; multi-agency approach; police culture; police perceptions; police strategies; returnees