Police create new squad to tame rising murders

The Directorate of Criminal Investigation’s (DCI) Homicide Unit has moved to a new office block to enable it to focus on rising cases of murder in the country.

This came as authorities revealed they had created another sub-unit to focus on all old and unsolved murder cases.

The Cold Case Unit will be under the Homicide Unit whose aim is to solve all pending murder incidents.

“The Cold Case Unit is a new kid in the block and its focus will be on all old cases. We hope to ensure all these cases are solved, revived or actively investigated,” said an official who was aware of the plans.

The Homicide Unit was Wednesday and Thursday moved from the DCI headquarters along Kiambu Road to a new office block in the Nairobi Area Regional headquarters near the Integrity Centre.

The team occupied the former Flying Squad offices and a laboratory that was in use before the DCI moved to its headquarters the Mazingira Building along Kiambu Road.

They are likely to be a fully fledged unit like the Anti-Terror Police Unit (ATPU).

This followed a meeting between the Inspector General of Police and his deputies-Eliud Lagat of Kenya Police, Gilbert Masengeli of Administration Police Service and DCI Mohamed Amin.

Amin confirmed they had moved the Homicide Unit to Nairobi Area Regional Offices to enable them to focus on all cases reported.

“We receive almost eight murder cases daily and this requires serious focus to solve. We have moved them to ensure they have all needed resources to focus on them,” he said.

Plans are underway to open regional Homicide Unit offices, officials said adding Kanja will officially open the new block and make the announcements.

Amin added the unit will get an additional 50 officers to enhance their operations.

Amin added a specialized Missing Persons Unit (MPU) had been established to deal with cases reported.

The unit will be under Homicide Unit whose director is Martin Nyuguto.

“We urge anyone with a missing case to report to police. They can either visit the Nairobi Area or any other office and report it.”

While trying to solve the missing persons' cases, the unit personnel will liaise with police stations, hospitals and mortuaries.

They will also liaise with prison authorities as part of the efforts, Amin said.

“All relevant agencies have been informed on what to do in case such cases are reported,” said Amin.

The teams are also working with other units of the police to solve the cases.

Other special units under DCI include the Cyber Crime Unit, Special Support Unit (SSU), Crime Research and Intelligence Bureau (CRIB) which is for intelligence-driven operations, Ballistics, Scenes of Crime, Principal Crime Registrar, Crime Intelligence Unit and Homicide’s  DNA, Toxicological, Chemistry and Biology Lab Units.

Kanja said there has been a slight increase in murder cases in the past months.

He said a comparative analysis of murder cases reported from August to October for the years 2022-24, indicates a slight increase.

In 2024, 339 murder cases were recorded, compared with 336 cases in 2023 and 341 cases in 2022.

In 2022, there were 3,056 cases of homicide, 3,281 in 2021, 3,111 in 2020, 2,971 in 2019 and 2,856 in 2018.

According to the police boss, in most of the cases reported, the police service had already completed investigations, identified those involved in the murder of young girls and women, and arraigned them before the court.

“Gender Desks at police stations nationwide are on high alert to deal swiftly with any cases of gender-based violence,” the police boss added.

In repose to the killings witnessed during the anti-government that took place in June and July this year, Kanja announced that all cases of deaths where police officers were implicated were being probed by both the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) and the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP). 

The new initiatives were also taken following complaints from various parties on perceived increased cases of murder.

Homicide Unit was formed at DCI Headquarters in September 2008 with a skeleton structure and limited resources.

It was under the Directorate of Investigations Bureau and operated under the Serious Crime Unit (SCU) which is established in the National Police Service standing order Cap 7 (32).

Currently, it has developed and elevated to a Directorate within the establishment of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations and is headed by a Director who is a Gazetted Officer and has a strength of 48 Detectives.

The Directorate is mandated to Investigate or take over any homicide cases in the country, receive and investigate cases of mass murders and violent crimes and be the liaison with other investigative and specialized units on crimes and intelligence sharing.

It is also supposed to be the liaison between the DCI and international and regional investigative units on crimes across the borders.

It also liaises with other stakeholders in Homicide Investigations like pathologists and government chemist experts and undertakes any other function or directive issued by the Director, of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations.

It is also supposed to comprehensively investigate homicide cases, develop and maintain a centralized information system on homicide cases and enhance capacity building, professionalism and integrity in homicide investigations.