Columbia International Affairs Online: Working Papers

CIAO DATE: 03/2012

Cops and Crime in Kenya

Jens Chr1 Andvig, Tiberius Barasa

January 2012

Norwegian Institute of International Affairs

Abstract

This paper presents and analyzes most empirical research about crime and police corruption in Kenya that has been based on vicitimization statistics. It shows the wide variation in outcomes and draws implications of this for the potential use of this approach for police and crime policy. This is used as a background for the researcher’s own victimization study which combines this information with a survey of police officers’ attitudes and experiences. In a more theoretical section it discuss how officer rotation, crime registration procedures and citizen mobility controls may work when crime policies are considered as a set of collective action games where both police officers and community members are engaged.