The National Police Service Commission has provided an explanation for why it does not hire people of shorter stature to serve as police officers.
Commission Chief Executive Officer Peter Leley recently testified before the Standing Committee on National Cohesion, Equal Opportunity, and Regional Integration, where he explained that the discrimination against recruiting people of smaller stature was founded on the assumption that such people would be less capable of engaging with and arresting criminals.
Committee Chair Mohamed Chute had asked Leley why people of shorter stature are sometimes disqualified from participation in recruitment activities.
When it comes to making an arrest, taller people are often perceived as more capable, with all due respect to short people (and I’m not suggesting they can’t do the job).
They are heavier than the typical criminal, making it easier to pin them down. The chief executive officer of the Commission questioned how a person with only 1 terabyte of memory could ever apprehend a powerful opponent.
Leley went on to explain that, for the same reasons they don’t hire people who are too short, the police force also has a weight limit for potential recruits.
Male applicants must be at least 5.8 feet tall and female applicants must be at least 5.3 feet tall in order to be considered for employment. In addition, men must weigh at least 54.55 kilos and women must weigh at least 50 kilograms.
In addition, it is made clear that female applicants are not allowed to be pregnant at any point during the recruitment process or the training that follows.
Most criminals have enough physical strength to resist being apprehended by the average person. We need officers who are physically capable of standing up to a throng,” Leley said.
Jackson Mandago, a senator for Uasin Gishu, said that the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) shouldn’t consider applicants’ height and weight when hiring new recruits.
