Police Reform in Nepal

Until recently Nepal’s laws against drunk-driving were rarely enforced in practice. According to The Economist, things changed when Ganesh Rai assumed the reigns of Nepal’s Traffic Police. Bolstered by a scheme in which officers keep one-sixth of the fines they collect from drunk-drivers, Rai’s policy of zero tolerance appears to have significantly reduced Kathmandu’s traffic accidents, along with other alcohol-fueled crimes such as domestic violence.

The drunk-driving crackdown comes amid a broader effort to measure police performance and hold officers accountable for doing their job:

Here again we see the introduction of basic management practices leading to what appear to be significant gains in policing effectiveness: set goals, measure performance, see what works, and hold people accountable.

Tile image by Ingmar Zahorsky.