Acting Inspector-General of Police Disbands DCI’s Special Service Unit

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) has announced the disbandment of the Special Service Unit (SSU) effective immediately.

This follows an order by acting Inspector-General of Police Noor Gabow, who summoned all officers assigned to the disbanded unit to DCI headquarters for further instructions, DCI said in a statement on Sunday.

“This comes as the National Police Service prepares for reorganization under the new administration,” the statement reads.

The disbanded unit was previously known as the Special Crime Prevention Unit (SCPU) before it was renamed in 2019 and scaled down to a smaller unit only based at the DCI headquarters in Nairobi. 

Former DCI director George Kinoti, who resigned last month, renamed SCPU to Special Service Unit (SSU) whose members underwent specialized training within and outside the country.

“Officers deployed in the Special Service Unit (SSU) have undergone intense training in and outside the country leading to the upgrading of their competencies, enhanced skills and knowledge aimed at making the Unit more effective and efficient while maximizing the available resources,” noted DCI.

DCI said the Special Service Unit (SSU) would be linked directly to the Crime Research and Intelligence Bureau (CRIB) for intelligence-driven operations and would work closely with other State Security Agencies for information and intelligence sharing.

SSU was tasked with handling cases of illegal trafficking of firearms and or ammunition, trafficking of narcotic drugs, violent robberies, cases of stealing of goods in transit, and illegal human trafficking.

Kinoti similarly disbanded the dreaded Flying Squad Unit and replaced it with the Sting Squad Headquarters (SSH)— a unit made up of 50 highly-trained officers based in Nairobi.

“With effect from today, the Flying Squad Unit has been disbanded. This marks the end of the Flying Squad Unit and no officer will present himself or herself to the public as such,” said Kinoti.