This archive report was first published on 4 January 2020.
On December 30, 2019, a 5-hour meeting between Director of Criminal Investigation George Kinoti and 5 other senior officers led to a resolution to disband the Flying Squad unit, a decision that would take effect on January 1, 2020.
The move marked the end of a 27-year history for the elite force, which was formed in July 1992 as the Anti Motor vehicle theft Unit to combat violent crimes in Nairobi and its environs.
However, in the later years, the unit was accused of extrajudicial killings and other acts of lawlessness, leading to Kinoti's dissatisfaction with the team's operations.
According to a report by The Standard, Kinoti had expressed his concerns about the unit's effectiveness and had even recalled some officers based in Nairobi and redeployed them to different parts of the country.
It is also alleged that Kinoti had a personal grudge against the unit, dating back to his time as the police spokesman and Assistant Commissioner of Police, when he had a brush with the Flying Squad officers from Meru.
With the disbandment of the Flying Squad, a new unit, the Sting Squad Headquarters (SSH), was formed to replace it, based in Nairobi and operating in areas that often experience armed crimes.
The DCI also scaled down the Special Crime Prevention Unit (SCPU) and renamed it the Special Service Unit (SSU), which will be domiciled at the DCI headquarters in Nairobi.
