New changes targeting special formations of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations are in the offing as part of streamlining operations within the country’s top detective outfit.
As part of the projected multi-faceted changes, merger of special units and expansion of formation jurisdiction are some of the considered suggestions being worked on. The Informer has learnt the new changes can be announced as soon as next week.
The newly appointed DCI George Kinoti’s office is said to be finalising modalities of the merger. “Some formations within the directorate will be unified under the same command for ease of coordination.” A senior officer privy with planned new changes intimated. According to insiders, the elite Special Crime Prevention Unit (SCPU) and the elite Flying Squad will be amalgamated under similar command at Mazingira House but retain respective mandate.
They will also have national jurisdiction, a departure from the current arrangement where they are devolved to county levels. The new changes are some of the initiatives Kinoti has brought on board barely a month after he took over from his predecessor and long serving top detective Ndegwa Muhoro. Muhoro has since been deployed to the Public Service Commission for redeployment.
He was sent to PSC alongside former Kenya Police Service Deputy Inspector General Joel Kitili and his Administration Service counterpart Samuel Arachi who have been succeeded by Edward Mbugua and Noor Gabow respectively.
Kinoti inherits a strong institutional policy guidance entrenched by his predecessor in making the directorate an independent outfit right from recruiting their officers, training and deployment a complete departure from the past where CID officers were jointly trained with other officers at the Kiganjo Police Training College.
Months before Muhoro’s exit, he oversaw government-to-government tendering system to equip the revolutionary forensic laboratory. Lack of a basic forensic lab has also hindered expeditious probes particularly homicide investigations which have on numerous occasion seen samples being flown out of the country for analysis.