[Vision, Our Common Purpose & Our Values] [Foreword] [Operations] [Regional Commanders' Report]
[Personnel and Training] [Management Services]
[Finance, Administration and Planning] [Environmental Report] [Organisation] [Annex, Crime Charts & Appendix]
Personnel and Training
People – Our Most Important Asset
As one of the largest Government departments, the Force fully recognises the importance of achieving good human resources management. Care for the officers is one of the top partnership priorities of the Force. Only with a well-trained, professional, committed and motivated team can the Force deliver quality service to the community in a changing policing environment as well as meeting the rising expectations of the public.
In 2006, Personnel Wing completed a restructuring process to enhance its efficiency and service delivery. This was made necessary following the reduction of its members from 373 in 2003 to 296 in December 2006 in accordance with the Force's Efficiency Savings Exercise. Various initiatives to improve the career development of officers, promote their job satisfaction and build a caring work force were vigorously pursued or introduced.
The Hong Kong Police College opened in January marked the beginning of a new epoch for police training. The College commits itself to further professionalising training and exploring new training opportunities for Force members. It also aims to strengthen external collaboration and inculcate a lifelong learning culture within the Force.
Human Resources
To fill vacancies arising from retirement, wastage and the provision of new services, the Force obtained exemption from Government to recruit 1 251 officers in the financial year of 2006/07. To compete with other Government departments and the private sector for high calibre candidates, the Force continued to employ proactive recruitment strategies. The Police Mentorship Programme and the Auxiliary Undergraduate Scheme, which aim to attract fresh graduates and undergraduates from local universities to join the regular and auxiliary Force respectively, were further strengthened and received a positive response from both universities and students.
During the year, a total of 138 junior officers, 75 inspectorate officers and 38 officers of superintendent rank or above attended various training courses and exchange programmes on the Mainland and in nine overseas countries. In addition to enhancing the development of these officers, the training and exchanges enabled the Force to benchmark with other agencies and jurisdictions. In August, the 'Development Programme for Junior Officers with Potential' was launched to facilitate junior officers to gain promotion to the inspectorate rank.
To allow officers' skills and talents to be put to good use, a new function was added to the Force's Personnel Information Communal System to capture the language and special skills of officers. For the future, a number of projects including the Structured Career Paths for Junior Inspectors and Junior Officers, a Comprehensive Posting Policy and a Strategic Human Resources Framework, are being developed to improve the career development and job satisfaction of officers.
Welfare, Conditions of Service and Staff Relations
During the year, Personnel Wing continued to strengthen its efforts to nurture the values of a caring Force through the promotion of healthy lifestyle activities among Force members and their families, providing services for families with special needs, as well as fostering a spirit of social responsibility through community volunteer initiatives. This demonstration of a caring spirit and commitment to corporate social responsibility was recognised by the Hong Kong Council of Social Service when it awarded the 'Caring Organisation Logo 2005-06' to the Force.
Force-wide activities such as family life education day camps and the Balances and Wisdom Programme were organised to promote family harmony as well as the mental and physical well-being of Force members. The theme of the year was the promotion of physical health through participating in sports, having a balanced and healthy diet and not smoking.
To sustain morale, facilitate retention and serve as a major attraction for the recruitment of officers with suitable calibre, the Force aims to secure a sufficient number of departmental quarters with reasonable living conditions for married Police officers. A total of 2 723 new units were provided to officers beginning in July 2005 to re-provision the same number of quarters at eight ageing Police quarters sites. The project will be completed in early 2007. In addition, the Force succeeded in obtaining funding approval from the Legislative Council Finance Committee to build a new Junior Police Officers quarters comprising two 22-storey blocks with 336 units in Tuen Mun, which will be completed tentatively in early 2010.
In 2006, Force members continued to participate in various volunteer activities in their spare time. The membership of the Hong Kong Police Volunteer Services Corps grew with 47 volunteer service teams comprising about 5 000 officers and their family members who participated in 106 volunteer activities with a total of 74 218 service hours. The Force participated in the Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics as well as the Dragon Boat Races, raising a total of $525,507 and $393,438 respectively for the disabled and underprivileged. The Force Warm Clothing Collection Campaign 2006 collected a total of 28 300 kilograms of clothing for the needy. The Force also raised a total of $153,462 for the Hong Kong Community Chest.
Police College
In January, the Force and the Open University of Hong Kong jointly launched two modules of the Recruit Police Constable Foundation Training Course. Recruit Police Constables who complete the new syllabus will be awarded a 'Certificate in Law Enforcement and Security Management' by the University. In addition, the Force continued to collaborate with universities to develop psychological competency training. Training materials of two modules, namely 'Counselling Skills as a Police Supervisor/Colleague' and 'Interpersonal Communication Skills', were developed during the year.
The Force also continued to enhance its collaboration with the Mainland and overseas law enforcement agencies and police training institutions, signing Memorandums of Understanding with the Police Academy of the Netherlands, the International Law Enforcement Academy in Bangkok and the Metropolitan Police Service of the UK. The objective was to upgrade training exchange and to strengthen partnership for the purpose of sharing knowledge and best practices.
Police Band
The Police Band, comprising a Silver Band and a Pipe Band, continued to play an important role in public and community relations programmes. To celebrate its 55th anniversary, the Police Band gave a concert and a gala dinner at the Police Sports and Recreation Club in March. A postal cover set was published to commemorate this special occasion.
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