NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 4 — Kenya has added 5,080 new Administration Police Service constables to its security workforce, with President William Ruto saying the success of ongoing police reforms will ultimately be judged by how officers treat and protect citizens.The recruits passed out on Friday at the National Police College, Embakasi ‘A’ Campus, after completing nine months of training, marking the 59th Passing-Out Parade of Administration Police recruits.Ruto said the deployment comes as the Government expands the National Police Service’s capacity to confront banditry, terrorism, organised crime and other security threats while strengthening its presence in communities and along the country’s borders.But the President challenged the new officers to ensure that the reforms translate into better services for ordinary Kenyans, rather than remain focused on equipment, technology or institutional changes.“Ultimately, the true measure of police reform will not be found in speeches, policies, equipment, technology or uniforms. It will be found in the experience of the citizen,” Ruto said.He said police officers must respond when called, enforce the law fairly, reject corruption and protect the rights and dignity of all citizens.“It will be measured by whether an officer responds when called, applies the law without fear or favour, refuses a bribe, protects the vulnerable, respects human dignity and treats every Kenyan equally before the law,” he said.The President said the new officers were assuming responsibility for exercising State authority at a time when the country is undertaking a comprehensive transformation of policing.“A nation’s security depends not only on the strength of its institutions or the capabilities at their disposal, but ultimately on the character of the men and women entrusted with the authority of the State,” Ruto said.He urged the recruits to exercise their powers with restraint and accountability, particularly as police officers are required to uphold constitutional freedoms including expression, association, assembly, demonstration and political participation.Ruto said the Government had completed a three-phase review of police salaries, resulting in a 36 per cent increase in the entry-level basic salary of a police constable, alongside adjustments across other ranks.The Government is also expanding police housing, improving medical care through the Usalama Cover, upgrading equipment and protective gear, and increasing access to specialised operational assets and air support.Since 2022, Ruto said, the National Police Service has built 252 police stations, recruited and trained 10,000 officers and provided additional professional training to more than 31,000 serving officers.Technology has also become a key part of the reform programme, with the Government operationalising the Multi-Biometric Identification System and making police hiring services available through e-Citizen.Work is continuing on the National Police Service Information Management System, including the Digital Occurrence Book.Ruto said the National Police Service Referral Hospital at Mbagathi had been completed, while the Forensic Laboratory had been constructed and was being progressively equipped.The reforms, he said, were based on recommendations of the National Taskforce on Police Reforms and are intended to create a professional, properly equipped, technologically capable and accountable service.“The objective is clear: to build a Police Service that is professional, properly equipped, adequately supported, technologically capable and accountable to the people it serves,” he said.Interior and National Administration Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen said the new officers would strengthen the Government’s response to security threats, particularly banditry and terrorism, while improving border security and addressing personnel shortages.He said police reforms were “firmly on course”, citing improvements in training, equipment, technology, welfare and housing.The revised police training curriculum now incorporates human rights, constitutionalism and the rule of law, Murkomen said.“We have enhanced the training curriculum for police officers to include human rights and constitutionalism, and continue to invest in modern equipment and technology to strengthen security operations,” he said.The new deployment comes amid heightened public scrutiny of police conduct and accountability, including following recent cases involving alleged violations of citizens’ rights.Ruto said such scrutiny should be welcomed where it is based on facts and evidence, arguing that accountability was essential because the reform programme is funded with public resources.“Because this entire reform programme is undertaken in the public interest and financed with public resources, every aspect of it must withstand scrutiny,” he said.The President urged the officers to uphold the trust placed in them by their families, the National Police Service and the Republic as they begin their careers.