Residents of Kwambira trading centre in Limuru have asked Interior CS Fred Matiang'i to protect them from knife-wielding muggers in the area.
They say youths aged between 17 and 25 years, mug them and steal money, mobile phones, laptops and other valuables in broad daylight.
The thugs are usually armed with knives and metal bars, and they call their victims by name, meaning they are residents.
The worst-hit areas are garages, Biashara Street, Nairobi stage and Kwambira village.
On Friday, residents forced all traders to close their businesses and attend an insecurity meeting.
They accused police of failing to beef up patrols, and they now want Matiang'i to intervene.
"We live here as if we do not have security officials. We want Matiang'i to remove officers who are asleep on the job," resident Joram Njoroge said.
Garage chairman Peter Ndung'u said some residents remain mum after being robbed for fear of being targeted again or killed. Others don't want to report their relatives.
"The problem we have is that when one is robbed by people who even call them by their names, they argue that if they report them, the suspects will come and kill or ask another gang to terrorise them," he said.
Ndung'u said some mechanics don't want to identify the suspects, who he alleged hide in garage structures.
"A week hardly passes without two cases being heard, but people do want to report," Ndung'u said.
Trader Esther Mbugua said her boutique shop was broken into seven times last year and goods worth thousands of shillings stolen. The latest break-in was on December 19 last year, when goods worth Sh500,000 was stolen.
"I do not know what happens in this centre. I tried employing a watchman, but locals claimed I had employed a person from an illegal gang. What is the way forward?" she asked.
Limuru assistant county commissioner Mary Njuguna, Mutarakwa OCS Ezra Mutwiri and a contingent of police urged residents to give police information that will help it curb insecurity in the area.
Deputy county commissioner Charles Mukele said they have intensified day and night police patrols.
He warned the suspects that their days are numbered, saying investigations into the names of suspects forwarded to the police by the public is ongoing.
"The strategy we are working on will lead to the arrest and charging of the suspects," he said.
