FACTORS IMPEDING THE DIRECTORATE OF CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION (DCI) IN HOMICIDE CASE CLEARANCE AT THE KIAMBU COUNTY HEADQUARTERS, KENYA
Abstract
Background: The current study sought to investigate the impediments of homicide case clearance at the Kiambu County DCI Headquarters, in Kiambu, Kenya. The study was necessitated by concerns of increasing homicide cases with increased perceptions of slow clearance of homicide cases which this study attributed to underlying causes that this study sought to investigate.
Methodology: The study was guided by Conspiracy Theories that helped to explain the impediments of homicide cases clearance. A descriptive survey research design and purposive sampling technique were used to select respondents for the study. The study comprised of 76 respondents, who were drawn from the homicide unit at County DCI HQs, in Kiambu.
Findings: According to the study, the main predictors of homicide crimes that impeded homicide case clearance in the Kiambu law courts include; The nature of homicide committed, the type of weapon used to commit the offence, location of the crime, victim characteristics, victim/Offender relationship and time of the day the offence was committed. According to the study, the greater the involvement of strangers, the difficult it is to clear homicide cases. According to this study homicides, caused by poison are cleared faster than those committed by use of other weapons such as Pangas/ Knifes, guns and blunt objects. Accordingly, Homicide happening in homes, Hotels and working places are easier cleared than outdoor homicides. Further, Inadequate; training, level of education and experience were the major bottlenecks found to undermine homicide investigation and case clearances. Investigator biases such as gender of the respondents played a pivotal role in clouding the spirit of investigation and affected homicide cases clearances. According to the study an investigator from a strict religious family may be biased in profiling murders involving religious conflicts.
Recommendations: In order to address impediments of homicide cases clearance the major recommendations revolve around the efforts of the police human resources office to mitigate all impediments and beef up homicide investigators capacity to be above board in their work. These include deployments of effective, trained, experienced police managers.
Keywords: Predictor, organizational factors, Investigator biases, contextual demographic factors, homicide case clearance
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