IPA is the largest police association that does not investigate any crimes but only creates a channel for friendship and international cooperation among officers.
The growing pains experienced 75 years ago during the establishment of the International Police Association (IPA) in England bear various similarities with what was experienced during the revival of IPA-Kenya after it was disbanded.
The IPA has around 400,000 members in nearly 100 countries, making it the largest friendship association for both serving and retired officers.
Shortly after the Second World War, Police Sergeant from Lincolnshire, England, Sergeant Arthur Troop set out to create a channel for friendship and international cooperation amongst police officers.
Sgt. Troop had always had a great faith in people talking to each other, rather than fighting, and set about the enormous task of founding a world friendship organisation for police officers.
As expected, he experienced considerable opposition from his police chief and the Home Office. He was even regarded as eccentric.
Between 1948 and 1949, contact was made with police friends at home and abroad. It culminated in the publication of an article in the British Police Review under the pseudonym of ‘Aytee.’
Following the amazing response, Sgt. Troop went ahead and founded the IPA on January 1, 1950, under the Esperanto motto “Servo per Amikeco” (Service Through Friendship).
Sgt. Troop became the first Secretary General of the British Section.
He had set out to establish an international association that would develop social, cultural, and professional links among its members in an environment free from discrimination based on rank, sex, colour, language, or religion.
And with determination, it became a reality.
A friendship organisation for members of the police force around the world, offering opportunities for travel, learning, meeting colleagues, and making friends through networking and shared interest groups, was formed.
Kenyan Case
Around 2010, as Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Jared Ojuok, then Chief Inspector of Police, was rummaging through some books and documents at a construction site within the Kenya Police Service headquarters, he chanced upon some IPA Kenya Section documents.
The IPA Kenya Section was established in 1961, the third section outside Europe to join the IPA, shortly after Canada and Hong Kong, before it was later disbanded.
SSP Ojuok, then a Chief Inspector of Police attached to the Public Relations office, enquired from the then Police Spokesperson Eric Kiraithe what the Association was about.
“Kiraithe told me that there used to be such a thing, but it was disbanded. I was a bit curious, and I checked the files and found the contacts of Shuaib Adam, and I called him,” Ojuok said.
He decided to revive it, and in three months, he had organised the first IPA meeting at Vigilance House in a long time and also registered over 100 officers from the Kenya Police College Kiganjo and the General Service Unit (GSU) Training School.
“Someone once asked me why I was so passionate about this movement. I feel it is my baby,” he told members during the AGM on February 21.
SSP Ojuok is also the Kenya Police Service Public Information Officer and an author of books, including the fascinating novel “When the Ancient Tree Falls,” which is set in a remote Kenyan village and depicts the life of the local Luo community.
SSP Ojuok would later be elected the IPA Secretary General, a position he served for 8 years. On February 21, he was elected the president, replacing the former Director of Police Operations, Alfred Otieno Osur.
The IPA International President Martin Hoffmann congratulated SSP Ojuok, saying he was convinced under his leadership, the IPA Kenya Section will continue to play a vital role in the positive development of the association.
“Following the recent elections in IPA Kenya, on behalf of the entire International Executive Board, I would like to congratulate you on your recent election as President of IPA Kenya. Please also forward our wishes to your newly elected committee,” Hoffmann wrote in a letter dated February 22.
Interpol, AFRIPOL, EAPCCO
According to Ojuok, the IPA is an international friendship organisation that does not investigate any crimes but only creates a channel for friendship and international cooperation among police officers.
Unlike the IPA, the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) -the world’s largest international police organization –main mandate is facilitating worldwide police cooperation to prevent and fight international crime.
The 196-member-countries organization’s main areas of expertise include crimes, environmental crime, human trafficking, and migrant smuggling.
To enhance cooperation among law enforcement agencies, police services of various countries have formed associations to strengthen collaboration in the fight against transnational crimes.
One such organization is the African Union Mechanism for Police Cooperation (AFRIPOL), a continental police organization established to enhance cooperation among law enforcement agencies of African Union (AU) member states.
AFRIPOL was formally established in 2014 as the primary platform for police cooperation on the continent.
It plays a pivotal role in strengthening police collaboration, combating transnational crime, and maintaining peace and security across Africa. The organization’s headquarters is located in Algiers, Algeria.
Some of its mandates include establishing a framework for police cooperation at the strategic, operational and tactical levels between police institutions; and prevention, detection and investigation of transnational organized crime in coordination and collaboration with national, regional and international police institutions.
It is also tasked with preparing a harmonized African strategy to fight against transnational organized crime, terrorism and cyber-crime within the framework of the implementation of the relevant AU policies.
The other is the Eastern Africa Police Chiefs Cooperation (EAPCCO) is a regional police body whose membership consists of Chiefs of Police of the 14 countries.
It was established in 1998 with the aim of harmonizing, strengthening police co-operation and joint strategies, sharing of crime related information and harmonization of laws in order to enhance the capacity of Law Enforcement Agencies to combat transnational organized crime.
The 14 member countries of the EAPCCO are Burundi, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda.
Zadock Angira is the former Chairperson of Crime Journalists Association of Kenya (CJAK) and a member of the International Police Association (IPA).
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