NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 8 — Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) George Kinoti has warned politicians and the public in general against provoking police officers by questioning their competencies.
Kinoti who spoke in Nairobi on Wednesday said police officers risk their lives while protecting the country and as such, their sacrifice should not be take lightly.
“You’ve heard us being demeaned that we’re academies dwarfs instead of celebrating our emotional intelligence,” the DCI boss remarked during the launch of the Kodris Africa Platform which seeks to offer KICD-approved content for teaching coding in primary and secondary schools.
“When you provoke that officer taking care of you diligently; an officer that is ready to give his life for you and who holds a fully loaded firearm. When you demean him to an extent of provoking him, he may most likely commit a felony and when circumstances are analyzed he may not be held criminally responsible,” Kinoti said.
Kinoti’s remarks emerged at a time human rights lobby groups have decried an increase in murders linked to police officers with an estimated 114 people reported to have either been killed or endured torture at the hands of police officers in 202.
An Independent Medico-Legal Unit (IMLU) report published in January 2022 showed 87 people had allegedly been “extra-judicially, summarily and arbitrarily executed” by the police. Another 27 people were reported to have been tortured.
The report signaled the worst record on documented murders linked to police since 2010.
IMLU also reported 84 cases of alleged police malfeasance, including incidents of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and punishment.
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