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DCI guarantees privacy to Kenyans who report criminal activities

Friday, December 11th, 2020 00:00 | By
Kibaki saved Kinoti's job in 2006. PHOTO/Courtesy
DCI boss George Kinoti.

Kenyans can now confidentially call and report crimes for free without their calls being traced and identity revealed.

Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), in conjunction with UK, yesterday launched a toll free line that will ultimately encourage reporting of crimes, especially concealed vices including gender based violence, defilement, terrorism, Female Genital Mutilation, among others.

DCI boss George Kinoti said the single Safaricom line 0800722203, can handle seven calls at a time and calls are received in real time. “It is important to note that DCI will not try to trace  any call.

It is toll free and confidential, meaning one does not  have to identify themselves. It will not cost a dime,” the UK Minister for Africa, James Duddridge, said during the launch.

Kinoti on the other hand said: “The identity of caller is encrypted and immediate action will be taken as soon as the info is verified and found to be actionable,” Kinoti said.

DCI boss continued: “Some people fail to report crimes due to lack of action by the police. The initiative will help in providing vital information, which will help to solve or prevent a serious crime,” Kinoti added.

According to the duo, fear of reprisal was a major factor in the reporting of crime, with Duddridge, saying the number will provide an opportunity to the public to report potential criminality in action in any part of Kenya

Kinoti  said the first ever toll free line will complement the Jogoo House-based Integrated Control and Command Centre (IC3). 

Duddridge said through mentoring from the UK’s National Crime Agency, Kenya law enforcement will be able to create a sustainable intelligence database, to help build confidence in the hotline and in community policing.

Multilingual officers who are trained in various fields and are able to speak English, Swahili, French, German, Chinese, and Somali among other languages will man the state-of-the-art call centre.

“It will also help us come up with proactive strategies in crime management,” Kinoti said.

Most of the crimes are witnessed by people but most of whom do not know what to do or are scared to give information but the initiative will give every Kenyan the safety and freedom to make the community a better and safer place to live.

Already, the Internal Affairs Unit (IAU) and the National Crime Research Centre (NCRC). The NCRC launched a free crime monitoring application that allows anyone with a smart phone to digitally report a crime.

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