Seriously, it was about time something was done to rein in the footloose impulses of the people used to ignoring even basic norms of decency and civility. In its simultaneously running campaign against drunk driving, the traffic police seems to have had considerable success. Since the drive kicked off on December 7 last year nearly 8,300 people have been fined or punished. Predictably, the number of road accidents in Kathmandu, especially during the nighttime, has more than halved since the start of the campaign.
Both these campaigns are important. Latest experiments in social science have proven that those used to violating small rules are also more liable to commit more serious offences. As people get accustomed to violating simple rules (jaywalking, for instance), they are also likely to progressively move up the crime ladder as they feel more and more emboldened every time they get away.
Take the case of New York and Los Angeles, both of which used to be crime havens at the start of the 1990s. By the end of the 1990s the police in the two cities apparent realized the limitations of that their old methods of crime control, focused on netting criminal kingpins. This was about the time they started to employ a new method of crime control centered on the ‘Broken Window Hypothesis’. According to the hypothesis, if some windows are broken in a neighborhood and they are not repaired, even more windows are likely to be broken in the future, which in turn leads to more serious crimes like substance and firearm abuse.
Stepping on this theory, the police increased their presence in crime-prone neighborhoods and started to crack down on small offences like turnstile-jumping and graffiti-painting, the figurative ‘broken windows’. Violent crime rates plummeted in the campaign’s wake.
The message was load and clear: In order to deter likely criminals, it is important that the state makes its presence felt, and there is no better way to do it than by controlling petty crimes. If the new measures of Metropolitan Traffic Police Division (Kathmandu) against drunk driving and jaywalking can be sustained (a big if considering the ad hoc law enforcement measures adopted in the past), it will send out a strong message: the state is active and does not sigh from harsh measures when they are due. Obviously, there is a thin line between crime-control and authoritarianism.
Only with sustained public campaigns and consistent application of rule of law can the government get public approval. There are far too many ‘broken windows’—potted roads, random postering, blatant abuse of vehicle regulations—in this city. The government has to see to it that small things are taken care of before it embarks on its more ambitious crime- and accident-control measures.
Related story
While I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be th...
