Kenya Police Criminal Investigation Department is a unit of Kenya Police responsible for investigating complex cases popularly known as the CID. This department is headed by a Director who reports to the Police Commissioner. It is a common practice for the president of Kenya to appoint the CID Director due to the sensitivity of the position. The former Director was the late Simon Gatiba Karanja, a former Deputy Commissioner of Police. Before his appointment he was previously the Provincial Police Officer for the Coast Province of Kenya.The president is yet to fill the vacancy. The CID headquarters is located on Kiambu road at Mazingira Complex.
This department is further divided into other smaller units/departments. See the list below
Anti Banking Fraud Unit
Special Crime Prevention Unit
Ant Terrorism Unit
Ballistics Unit
Anti Narcotics Unit
Forensic Department
Kanga Squad
In every province, the CID department is headed by Provincial Criminal Investigation Officer (PCIO) who reports to the Provincial Police Officer (PPO). At Divisional level the CID department is headed by Divisional Criminal Investigation Officer (DCIO) who reports to the Officer Commanding Police Division (OCPD).
Kenya CID Department is one of the best in Africa though it has been dodged with numerous problems including lack on modern forensic labs, fingerprints equipment and DNA testing equipment [1]. Also there has been bad blood between the department's detectives and uniformed officers.