Crime cases multiply over years while police face resource crunch

Kathmandu,  July 22: An annual report on Nepal Police’s activities in the fiscal year 2023/24 showed that the cases of crime have been increasing over the years in the country.

Making public the report at Nepal Police Headquarters on Sunday, central police spokesperson DIGP Dan Bahadur Karki informed that the police received reports of 59,203 cases of crime in the fiscal year 2023/24. Nepal Police reported 56,323 cases of crime in 2022/23; 46,902 in 2021/22 and 40,120 in 2020/21.

“The majority of the crime cases reported in the recently concluded fiscal year were of banking offence (13,263 cases).  They were followed by social crimes --- (10,756), suicide (7,194), narcotics (4,398), theft (3,758), rape (2,507), cheating (1,874), accident deaths (1,775) and attempt to murder (1,019),” said DIGP Karki.

Similarly, the law enforcement agency arrested 14,764 perpetrators in the last fiscal and levied Rs. 2.812 billion in fines from them. 

During the period, Nepal Police also found 1,649 of the 1,829 missing boys and 4,182 of the 4,761 missing girls. 

Resource strapped 

The new building of the District Police Office, Kathmandu, along the Maitighar-Bhadrakali one-way is one of the best structures of Nepal Police constructed till date.

However, not all the police units have a proper structure to work in. According to Nepal Police Headquarters, 1,042 police units do not have their land, 791 units do not have buildings, 843 units do not have barracks and 833 units do not have kitchens. “Of the 2,266 police units across the country, 802 do not have toilets,” said DIGP Karki.

Nepal Police have also been unable to upgrade their forensic and technical departments effectively due to lack of sufficient budget.

“We have 221 police units with permission to file court cases. Of them, 193 have been equipped with resources to upload case files digitally. Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) has been installed in 84 police units to date,” informed DIGP Karki.

Nepal Police have approved vacancies for 79,541 police personnel. Until 2023/24 end, 75,686 police officers were working for the agency while 3,857 positions remained vacant.

“The United Nation’s standard is to have one police for 220 citizens. We have one officer for 385 individuals,” DIGP Karki added.

Way forward

According to Nepal Police, they have been prioritising the use of digital resources to make policing effective and transparent.

“A well-equipped Cyber Bureau building is under construction at Samakhusi in Kathmandu. We also plan to establish a bureau dedicated to financial crimes, which are on the rise,” said DIGP Karki. The headquarters also revealed schemes to expand forensic and other services outside the Kathmandu Valley. 

Similarly, Nepal Police also stressed utilising Chat Bot, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) platform, in analysing crime cases and feedback/complaints of the general public.

Nepal Police has also been conducting extensive research on hot and important issues. 

“We have formulated an action plan to reduce suicide and other cases of crime after conducting nationwide research. Research has also been conducted on community-police partnership,” said DIGP Karki.

“We plan to make policing better and ensure safety and peace across the country. We need the support of every stakeholder for this to happen,” DIGP Karki added.