Cries of Crime: How gaps in the judicial system aid release of criminal gangs
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Suspected members of criminal gangs in Nakuru have been arrested and arraigned many times in the past few years.
This usually brings with it a media spectacle with the accused being displayed to the public, together with weapons said to have been retrieved from their hideouts.
Soon after, the cases fizzle out. Journalists move on to the next story and everything goes quiet until the next criminal attack.
So what happens between the arrest and being presented in court?
According to County Police Commander, Zachary Kimani, before making an arrest, police officers identify suspected criminals with the help of confidential informants.
“The informants give us details on how the gangs operate, where they stash their weapons and other details. This information helps us set up sting operations that lead to apprehension of these criminals,” Mr Kimani explains.
Once apprehended, the police have a task of finding a charge that is backed by the law.
For Mr Kimani and his officers, their best bet is to charge the suspects with the crime at hand.
“If we find a person in possession of a gun yet they are not a registered owner, that is what they will be charged with. If you are found in possession of hard drugs, then that will be the charge. There is no clear way of saying this is a gang member,” Mr Kimani interestingly notes.
We then head to the court where the main battle is to be fought, to prove whether the accused persons are innocent or guilty.
Jecinta Njeri, Communications officer at the Office of Directorate of Public Prosecutions in Nakuru says the police usually bring charge sheets. The DPPs job is to go through it and make sure the charge is legally sound, before going ahead with the case.
Once in court, the case is about facts, evidence, witnesses and who will present a stronger case between the state and the accused.
A prosecutor at Nakuru law courts who did not want to be named revealed that sometimes the police draw up defective charge sheets, resulting to the case being thrown out altogether.
Other charges attract fines as little as Sh 1500.
In such instances, the police will blame the court for giving the accused ‘light’ fines. The prosecution in turn will blame the police for not offering sufficient evidence and witnesses for them to prosecute the case fully.
The public then ends up feeling frustrated since the same people being paraded in court as suspected dangerous criminals now mingle with them freely.
So how can these gaps be sealed?
The police must do a sufficient job in gathering evidence and drawing up a thorough charge sheet, which would then be presented to the prosecution.
Members of the public must also be willing to turn up as witnesses in these cases when called upon to, as these criminals are people known to them. This will strengthen the prosecution’s case.
It takes every person, paddling their side of the boat, to get to the land of justice.
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