Kenya police brutality – it will take more than laws and public anger to change behaviour: Kenya has once again been reminded of brutality within its police force. Two events in mid-June 2025 pointed to the grave challenge that Kenya must confront to reform the service. The first was the death in police custody of …
Kenya’s police still kill with impunity – what needs to be done to stop them: Days ahead of the first anniversary in Kenya of the Gen Z-led anti-government protests that resulted in at least 60 deaths and displays of police brutality, news broke that Albert Ojwang, a young Kenyan blogger, had died in police detention. …
Kenya’s brutal police have been exposed again – why the system fails people: The recent killing in Kenya of a young man in police detention highlights a string of systemic failures to hold the country’s security officers accountable for their actions. Despite public outrage and protests, Kenyan police officers continue to use inhumane, brutal and …
Inside an urban terror network: book reveals how police finally cracked Pagad gang violence in Cape Town: A campaign against gangsterism in Cape Town, South Africa led by the People Against Gangsterism and Drugs (Pagad) turned violent in the mid-1990s when a group known as Pagad G-Force began what became known as an urban terrorism …
‘Reel justice’: a unique collaboration between university filmmakers and police: How can universities build better relationships with the communities around them? Academia is increasingly considering this question. And finding innovative ways to demonstrate value and connect with wider society. This was on my mind when I learnt about a fascinating collaboration between the police and …
Political assassinations, police violence and lack of press freedom: 3 barriers to peace in Mozambique: Mozambique’s parliament and its new president, Daniel Chapo, were sworn in in mid-January 2025 after a tumultuous post-election period of protests, barricades and police violence. The 9 October 2024 elections prompted countless reports of fraud, leading the European Union election …
Informal mining in South Africa is here to stay. Police brutality won’t end it – here’s what will: In mid-January 2024 over 1,000 hunger-weakened miners exited two abandoned mine shafts in Stilfontein, near Johannesburg in South Africa. They had been starved out by the police in Operation Vala Umgodi — meaning “plug the hole” – …
Haiti: first Kenyan police arrive to help tackle gang violence – but the prospects for success are slim: An advance team of Kenyan special forces police have arrived in the troubled Caribbean nation of Haiti. They are part of a larger UN-backed “support” mission tasked with establishing order, pushing back the advances of criminal gangs …
Reports of ‘honour-based’ abuse increased following lockdowns and change to police recording rules: Alexey_M/Shutterstock Cases of so-called honour-based abuse (HBA) are on the rise in England and Wales. Home Office figures show 2,905 HBA offences in 2022-23 – an increase of 1% in the year ending March 2023 from the year before. This is a …
Nigeria can defeat banditry by reconstructing the police system – criminologist: Security in Nigeria has degenerated in the last 10 years. Various non-state armed groups have emerged countrywide. These actors include criminal gangs, separatist groups, Islamic fundamentalists and kidnappers. They all have different motivations and ways of operating. One of the country’s most pressing security …
If Kenya wants to help Haiti, it should push for colonial reparations not send in the police: As the security situation in Haiti deteriorates, Kenya has offered to lead a new sort of UN mission to the country from 2024. In early October, the UN Security Council authorised a Multinational Security Support mission led by …
Armistice Day counter-protests: how government rhetoric and police failings could be linked to far-right violence: On Armistice Day 2023, a pro-Palestine march was held in London for the fifth time since the beginning of the Israel-Palestine war. As well as demonstrators looking to join the protest, around 2,000 far-right activists and football hooligans descended on …
South Africa’s police are losing the war on crime – here’s how they need to rethink their approach: South Africa’s crime statistics for the third quarter of 2023 show that people continue to face a serious problem of violent crime, especially murder and attempted murder. The country’s per capita murder rate for 2022/23 was the …
Local police officers on the decline: what happened to bobbies on the beat?: Brian A Jackson/Shutterstock The neighbourhood officer was key to the founding tradition of policing in Britain. The concept of “policing by consent” depended on the view of police as citizens in uniform – visible, local figures there to watch, listen and intervene …
Ghanaians don’t trust the police. A criminologist on what needs to be done about it: The relationship between Ghanaian citizens and officers of its police service is a tenuous one. Recent reports by the research network Afrobarometer show a decline in trust between citizens and officers amid complaints of harassment and bribery. There have also …
Suella Braverman: why the home secretary can’t force the police to cancel a pro-Palestine march: The UK home secretary, Suella Braverman, has reached new heights with her criticism of the Metropolitan police over its handling of pro-Palestinian marches. In an op-ed for the Times, reportedly not cleared by Number 10, Braverman accused police of a …
Palestine protest arrests: why even police are confused about hate crime law: Though it’s happening thousands of miles away, the Israel-Gaza conflict has aggravated tensions in the UK. In London, authorities have recorded a 1,353% increase in antisemitic offences and a 140% increase in anti-Muslim offences during October compared to last year. In this emotionally …
The UK has relatively few armed police – but their specialist squads are hotbeds of ‘warrior culture’: Armed police are relatively rare in the UK. Juiced Up Media/Shutterstock When unarmed black Briton Chris Kaba was killed by a single shot from a London Metropolitan police officer in September 2022, his family and communities of colour …