So the police keep advising the public to establish rapport with them to build a friendship that will be beneficial to both in tackling crime but these efforts are hitting dead ends as trust is becoming difficult to gain everyday with the increasing injustices.
The two are now playing tit for tat ever since the public started giving the law enforcers mob justice anytime offended by the men in uniform.
Police are currently looking for a matatu crew that assaulted an officer in a scuffle along Mbagathi Road in Nairobi. The crew escaped and abandoned the matatu at the Highridge bus stop after the incident.
It is not clear what prompted the scuffle in the Sunday incident.Police say they are still investigating.
Nairobi police boss Joseph ole Tito said the injured officer was treated at an unnamed hospital and later discharged.
He cautioned against attack on any police officers. He urged the public to always report complaint(s) against officers to either Internal Affairs Unit or Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA).
A similar incident was reported in Nakuru last month.
The individual who took the viral clip and the Tuk Tuk driver justified the attack and claimed that the man had been angered by the conduct of the two police officers. He accused the two of smashing the side mirror and windscreen of his vehicle during a routine traffic stop.
Shortly after, another clip emerged of a man trying to wrestle an armed police man. Kenyans on Twitter reacted to the clips mainly in two ways.
There were those who saw it as an empowering moment where a citizen was reacted to an oppressive system. Others saw it as a serious affront to the rule of law.
IPOA has since condemned attacks on police officers who on duty.The authority said “These criminal actions interrupt the dispensation of security services and inconvenience law abiding Kenyans.
It added that it was unacceptable for anyone to take the law into their hands with a serving Police Service and a robust Judiciary in place, as that was likely to foster anarchy and break established order in society.
IPOA said in a statement that it defeated the purpose of police reforms when the public turned and committed the same offences they complained about if committed by police officers.
Do you support the public taking action against police in their own hands?