Nairobi - Crime

Crime

Throughout the 1990s, Nairobi had struggled with rising crime, earning a reputation for being a dangerous city and the nickname "Nairobbery". In 2001, the United Nations International Civil Service Commission rated Nairobi as among the most insecure cities in the world, classifying the city as "status C". In the United Nations report, it was stated that in 2001, nearly one third of all Nairobi residents experienced some form of robbery in the city. The head of one development agency cited the notoriously high levels of violent armed robberies, burglaries, and carjackings. Crime had risen in Nairobi as a result of unplanned urbanisation, with a minimal number of police stations and a proper security infrastructure. However, many claim that the biggest factor for the city's alarming crime rate is police corruption, which leaves many criminals unpunished. As a security precaution, most large houses have a watch guard, burglar grills, and dogs to patrol their grounds during the night. Most crimes, however, occur around the poor neighbourhoods where it gets dangerous during night hours.

In 2006, crime decreased in the city, due to increased security and an improved police presence. Despite this, in 2007, the Kenyan government and U.S. State Department has announced that Nairobi is experiencing a greater level of violent crime than in previous years. Since then, the government has taken measures to combat crime with heavy police presence in and around the city while U.S. government has updated its travel warning for the country.

Following a grenade attack in October 2011 by a local Kenyan man with Islamist links, the city faced a heightened security presence. Fears spread over further promised retaliations by the Al-Shabaab group of rebels over Kenya's involvement in a coordinated operation with the Somalian military against the insurgent outfit.

There have been a spate of Blasts in Nairobi which started on 10 March 2012, where assailants threw grenades at a busy bus station and a blue-collar bar in Nairobi, killing nine and injuring more than 50 Kenyans. On 28 May 2012, 28 people were injured in an explosion in a shopping complex in downtown Nairobi, near Moi avenue.