Law enforcement in Kenya

There are a number of law enforcement organisations in Kenya, with the main organisation being the Kenya Police Service. Kenya employs up to 40,000 police and paramilitary personnel.

The Kenya Police, which report to the Inspector-General of Police in the National Police Service, fields about 18,000 officers. The General Service Unit (GSU) has around 5,000 paramilitary personnel.

The regular police are backed up in rural areas by the Kenya Police Reserve (KPR) which is sometimes called the Kenya Home Guard. The Administration Police (AP), formerly the Tribal Police, report to the Inspector-General of Police in the National Police Service.

The General Service Unit (GSU) initially known as the Kenya Police Emergency Company, was established by the colonial government to battle Mau Mau freedom fighters (rebels) during the fight for Kenya's independence. It now has around 9,000 paramilitary of which 2,000 are trained by Israelis (Recce group) that forms most of the Presidential guard, VIP and Diplomatic protection.

The Administration Police (AP) 47,000 strong, report to the Deputy Inspector General- APS. The AP started out as the native police who reported to the local village headman. In 1929 this was formalised by the Tribal Police Ordinance which also provided for their training under the oversight of the regional agents.

The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) a state corporation paramilitary wing is responsible with wildlife conservation and general protection. It consists of the trap unit, air wing unit, anti-poaching unit, scout unit, wildlife intelligence unit, wildlife protection unit and of late dog unit. It is headed by the Director of the Kenya Wildlife Service. During Richard Leakey's tenure as director in the early 1990s poaching was almost eliminated, but gradually enforcement relaxed and poaching again became a problem with significant killings of endangered species beginning about 2001, especially affected were the black rhinos.

The Kenya Forest Service (KFS) employs rangers to protect the forests and enforce revenue measures. Among their duties the rangers enforce the eviction of squatters from the forests.

...
Wikipedia