The dreaded police killer squad popularly known as Hessy is meticulously organised and purposely outfitted to be mysterious and brutal, an investigation by the Star can now reveal.
Its operatives work in slums and densely populated estates of Nairobi, in particular, Kibera, Dandora, Mathare and Kayole.
The Hessys (crime busters) appear on social media like Facebook with encrypted names but they are felt on the ground when a member of the public – explained as a [armed] criminal is felled.
In social media, the crime busters are identified as Hessy wa Dandora, Hessy wa Kayole, Hessy wa Majengo, Hessy wa Eastleigh, Kibera, among others.
Not much is known about the group. But how do they work?
Police spokesman Charles Owino did not respond to our calls and text messages. Equally, the Independent Police Oversight Authority declined to confirm or deny the existence of the police unit. After two weeks of waiting, a source at the authority told the Star off the record that its board “ordered that no comment be made on the subject because it is really sensitive.”
Sources with the inside knowledge about the working of the crime busters, but who declined to be named, disclosed that the Hessy’s are made up of officers from various police units to purposely be ruthless in combating crime.
“The unit was created post-2010 when the country was experiencing increased sporadic terrorist attacks. If you remember this time, criminals used to hurl hand grenades and plant light explosives in strategic public spaces, injuring scores when they went off,” a source said, adding that “they did this to attract government attention and disturb the public.”
The crime rate was surging at the time mainly in the ghetto areas, he told the Star.
This was corroborated by another source, who said, “It is post-2010 when terrorism in the country was on a trajectory, from the home-made IEDs to the major terror incidents of 2013 and 2015 moving forward. Action needed to be taken.”