Patrick Miano Mburia

The study explored the training of police recruits to find out whether the training offered in various training colleges meets the demands of their duty. The purpose was to find out how the training is done and how the trained recruits handle sensitive legal issues that they are confronted with in the line of duty. The study also wanted to find out the psychological state of recruits during and after encountering various legal issues like murder, accidents, criminal shoot outs, drug barons and also how they handle people with serious personality disorders. The study wanted to find out the competency of police recruits during and after training in how competent they are in handling sensitive legal matters that they are faced with. A survey was carried out within Nairobi county especially Embakasi where we have two of the major training colleges for recruits including the administration police college and the General service unit training school. It targeted about 200 respondents across various police ranks among those serving and instructors in the college. Questionnaires were administered and the data analyzed to establish the significance of the study using SPSS. The study found that respondents had been trainers for sizeable duration of time and thus had the necessary skills to impart to the trainee and make them appropriate for the police service. The study found that the recruits with a higher level of education that is higher diploma and degree portray a higher level of confidence in adopting some of the skills learnt. As new technologies are introduced to the law enforcement field, such as body cameras and biometrics, departments must ensure their officers are well trained and well versed on how to use these new tools effectively. The study found that the disparities in education level have not had any negative impact on some recruits whereby some feel inferior while others feel superior than others. The study concluded that the level of education plays a significant role in police training.