Spread the love

By Rabi Raj Thapa

“The basic mission for whom the police exist is to prevent crime and disorder. The core principle of police efficiency is the absence of crime and disorder, not the visible evidence of police action dealing with it. Police use physical force to the extent necessary to secure observance of the law or to restore order only when the exercise of persuasion, advice and warning is found to be insufficient”. These are three out of nine guiding principles of policing of Sir Robert Peel (1829) as taken as the Bible of Policing by the US Police Commissioner of New York, William J Bratton.

Then where do the South Asian police agencies stand today?

Since Bangladeshi streets got flooded with disgruntled, frustrated and angry students protesting against Prime Minister Sheiks Hasina’s government’s tried to re-impose its “30% jobs ‘Quota’for the ‘families of the Freedom Fighters of 1971 that goes up to their grand-children today; the government labeled opposition party, students and all and used all its security forces including its army to suppress the protestors calling them “Razakar” that is synonyms to a traitor. In the protest excessive force was used that killed more than 150 people. Ultimately, the government again bowed down to the Supreme Court’s ruling to provide 93 percent of state jobs to be filled by free competition. Here the question arises; why have so many people died simply to correct a wrong and biased government policy decision?  

That event along with the security forces’ heavy-handedness raised the question over South Asian law enforcement agencies including Nepal and their lack of emphasis on knowledge, discipline, attitude, and behavior. Police agencies in South Asia are seen as excessively politically dominated, manipulated, and dictated hindering their professionalism and competency.   

On the other side of the world, the US House Oversight Committee at Capitol Hill is grilling their Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle over their failure to provide security to their former President Donald Trump’s political rally on 13the July 24, 2024, in Pennsylvania. In response to their inquiry, the Secret Service had to take responsibility for the security lapses, admitting it was a failure of the Secret Service’s solemn mission to protect and forced to resign.

What is the contrast of policing at the two corners of the world? It is time to think seriously.

The most important factor in this is the lack of Critical Decision-Making Power and Process among law enforcement in their use of force while de-escalating violence and crisis intervention.

Compared to other South Asian nations, Nepal may still fare well to respect the sanctity of human life; especially in the use of force and de-escalation of violence.

But there is no way to feel happy and satisfied yet. There is a lack of adequate communication with the people. Effective communication, documentation of the use-of-force incidents, non-discriminatory enforcement practices and review of data with proportionate use of force are the essential ingredients of an accountable and professional law enforcement agency. It also demands fairness and transparency in sharing information that helps to enhance respect and credibility of law enforcement personnel.

The Bangladesh violence and its response show lack of proportionality in their use of force. Nepal must adhere to the Use of Proportionality in de-escalation of violence and law enforcement policy strategy in Nepal.

Security organizations of Nepal also need to improve their law enforcement record, proportionality in the use-of-force and improve their records in the use of force. Old ways of thinking of permeate police training, tactics, and culture needs to change along with least interference of the government, media, and external interest groups in law enforcement and crime investigation, prosecution, etc.

Maybe the time has come to challenge the conventional thinking in Nepal too.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect People’s Review’s editorial stance.