Police force has a housing shortfall of 30,000 units IPOA

Police force has a housing shortfall of 30,000 units  IPOA

A new study has laid bare the deplorable state of police housing and recommended a radical policy allowing officers to live outside police stations. The report by the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) says the force has a shortfall of nearly 30,000 housing units.

The survey found that the service has a shortfall of 28,922 housing units and that more than 28,000 Administration Police officers are not housed.

“The situation is so bad to a point where there are three families living in one house,” said Wachira Njeru, chairman IPOA.

The annual graduation of new officers has exerted more pressure on available housing and IPOA now recommending a radical shift from housing officers within police stations.

Officers say house allowance provided currently can hardly cater for rent.

A police constable, a corporal, a sergeant and senior sergeant receive a house allowance of 4,000 shillings per month.

Those in the rank of Inspector rarely share houses and get an allowance of 6,000 shillings and above per month.

Previous attempts to improve police housing have failed with a plan to build 15,000 units in the 2015/2016 financial year yet to take shape.

IPOA is recommending a policy where no officers will share houses but will live alongside the communities they serve in rental houses.

It has, however, recommended that specialized units such as GSU, Rapid Deployment Unit (RDU) and Anti-Stock Theft Unit be exempted from this arrangement.

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