Established in 1979, Tourist Police, a unit of Nepal Police under the Tourism Division of Tourism Ministry, believe lowering the language barrier was essential for cracking down on crime related to tourists.
"English language was not enough for dealing with foreign tourists so we are prioritizing Tourist Police personnel to learn different languages like Chinese, French, Spanish, Japanese among others," Inspector Rukesh Tandukar, Chief of Tourism Police Division said.Of the 227 Tourist Police personnel deployed in various 21 units across tourist hubs across the country, very few can speak foreign languages other than English. Tourist Police in coordination with respective embassies have started learning Chinese and French languages in Nepal after they found it difficult to deal with Chinese and French tourists whose numbers have increased markedly in recent years.
"We don't have enough manpower to deal with Chinese tourists so 15 police personnel have started learning Chinese language from this week and seven police are about to complete basic course in French language," Inspector Tandukar informed. Hopefully we will start learning other languages soon, he added.
While we need to instantly sort out problems related to tourists, we have difficulty understanding the language in the lack of an interpreter, Sub Inspector Kishore Dhoj Karki, of Patan Tourist Police Division said.
Either we have to hire professional interpreter or have to depend on the guides, Sub Inspector Karki said.
"With foreigners other than Indians, we try to communicate in English language but that does not work all the time," Sub Inspector Sushil Prasad Paudel of Bhaktapur Tourist Police Division said.
Inspector Tandukar said, "We hope to minimize troubles by putting in place adequately resourced police and make the visits of foreign tourists as hassle-free as possible."
Nepal Police is committed to the welfare of tourists, assist tourists for hassle-free, safe stay and travel in Nepal," AIGP Surendra Bahadur Shah, who heads the Crime Investigation Department (CID) of Nepal Police.
This year we focused on enhancing English and Chinese languages and next year onward we expect to focus on other languages too, he said.
Tourist Police personnel are initially recruited by Nepal Police and are posted to different locations across the country as and when needed if they are skilled in languages other than Nepali, according to CID.
According to Tourist Police officials they face hard times while dealing with petty robbery, snatching, theft, loss from hotel rooms, quarrel or bargain with the street vendors, fights among the tourists and their activities with the street children.
However, in cases where tourists are found involved in unlawful acts, sexual harassments and road accidents, they are handed over to the District Police Office, relevant authorities or respective embassies for further investigation, officials said.
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