The Force makes every effort to recruit high-calibre candidates and provide staff members with suitable development opportunities. The aim is to ensure all staff members are capable of advancing the Force's Strategic Directions and carrying out their duties in the most professional manner. Members are also encouraged to shoulder social responsibility by participating in voluntary activities in their spare time.

Human Resources

The Force constantly reviews its recruitment strategy to enhance its appeal as an employer in the highly competitive human resources market to attract talent. In 2023, the human resources market in Hong Kong remained highly competitive.

With effect from May 5, the Force adjusted its entry requirements as follows:

1. Removed the minimum height and weight requirements;
2. Removed the requirement for applicants wearing corrective lenses to undergo an unaided visual acuity test; and,
3. Introduced the Recruit Police Constable Written Examination to provide applicants with an alternative way of meeting language proficiency requirements.

On September 21, a revised Physical Fitness Test for recruitment was introduced that replaced the hand grip strength test with push-ups and changed the rules of the shuttle run, to enhance effectiveness in assessing duty-related fitness and relevance to foundation training.

The 6th and 7th Recruitment Experience and Assessment Days (READs) were organised in June and December, respectively, to engage with potential applicants and enhance their understanding of the Force. Participants could take part in experiential activities, submit job applications and undergo the selection process on the spot. More than 3,000 participants in total attended the two READs, and 968 applications were received.

A visitor to the Police Recruitment Experience and Assessment Day had a taste of the Force's duties.

The Police University Recruitment Express (PURE) was held at 11 local universities between September and October. Apart from recruitment talks, arrangements were made to help students complete job applications and go through the selection process on campus. In total, 673 applications were received. Moreover, PURE (Mainland) was organised in Guangdong, Fujian, Wuhan, Chengdu, Beijing and Shanghai between April and December to facilitate the recruitment of Hong Kong people studying on the Mainland. The results were encouraging, with 746 applications received.

The Police University Recruitment Express introduced the diversity of the Force's work to students at 11 local universities.

Personnel Services and Staff Relations Branch

Psychological Services Group

The Psychological Services Group (PSG) provides quality and professional psychological services to the Force's members. In 2023, the group relocated to its permanent office at the Treasury Building in Kowloon.

The Psychological Services Group opened its new office on April 18.

For the year's Healthy and Resilient Officer (HERO) Campaign, the group chose 'Team Resilience' as the theme. A project called 共畫詞雲@HKP was conducted from December 2022 to January 2023 to collect views from the Force's members on what would make a good and strong team. More than 1,000 officers shared their insights.

In collaboration with the Carelinks Cadre, the group organised 22 Team Resilience Workshops between May and October. The workshops brought out the importance of 'Trust, Appreciation, Communication and Know Your Buddy' (TACK) in a relaxed and interactive format, to promote team resilience among the Force's members.

The group celebrated its 40th anniversary during the year. To commemorate this milestone, a two-day PSG40 Exhibition and Symposium on Behavioural Science and Policing took place at the auditorium of the Police Headquarters in end-November. The seminar brought together police psychologists and experts from the Greater Bay Area and Singapore to engage in fruitful discussions, exchange ideas and explore the application of psychology and behavioural science to modern policing in Asia.

Apart from members of the Police Force, the seminar saw active participation from nearly 200 scholars and students representing government departments and local universities. Their diverse presence contributed to a rich and interactive communication environment during the event.

World Police and Fire Games

The Hong Kong Police Force participated in the 2023 World Police and Fire Games between July and August in Winnipeg, Canada. A total of 287 athletes represented the Force to take part in more than 60 sports events, competing with more than 8,000 elites from over 60 countries and cities. They gave their best and won 239 medals, comprising 90 golds, 80 silvers and 69 bronzes. In particular, the gold medal and total medal tallies broke the records of the event. The outcome was a clear demonstration of the perseverance and never-give-up sportsmanship of the Force's officers as they walked the talk to tell the Hong Kong story to the world.

HKPF athletes competed in a spirit of friendship with disciplined services from all over the globe in the World Police and Fire Games.

First Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Police Games

The first Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) Police Games were held in Foshan, Guangdong province, between October 30 and November 2. The GBA Police Games were an upgrade from the previous annual Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Police and Security Forces Sports Exchange, and were launched upon mutual agreement among the three regions under the 'Outline Development Plan for Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area'. New elements were added to the upgraded event; other than the usual sports competitions, the GBA Police Games incorporated new programme items that demonstrated police fitness, policing skills and police manifestation. Hong Kong's police athletes put their best foot forward in all the contests, winning five gold, 13 silver and five bronze medals, and securing the overall first runner-up position.

Officers from Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao attended the opening of the debut GBA Police Games.

Caring Culture and Support

To facilitate influenza vaccinations for officers, the Force has been arranging medical organisations to offer outreach injections on its premises, including the Police Headquarters, Regional Headquarters and divisional police stations. More than 6,500 officers were vaccinated in 36 sessions of the group vaccination service during the year.

The Force was awarded the 15 Years Plus Caring Organisation Logo from the Hong Kong Council of Social Service once again, in recognition of its contributions to caring for the community, its employees and the environment over the past 18 years. The Personnel Wing will continue to promote corporate social responsibility by fostering a healthy and caring culture within and beyond the Force.

In partnership with community medical and allied health services, the Personnel Wing launched the 'Dr.V' volunteering project in May to promote early prevention and treatment of a wide range of health issues among officers. More than 980 attendees benefited from six sessions of free medical consultations and health talks. Nine health video clips were released on P-TV.

Social Responsibility Partnership

The Hong Kong Police Volunteer Services Corps received the Non-Commercial Organization Award (Volunteer Hours) Gold Award from the Hong Kong Volunteer Award for the outstanding contributions of its 23 volunteer teams to community work.

Many members of the Force also participated in charity events in their spare time, including the Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics Hong Kong and activities of the Community Chest.

Through blood donation events, 478 units of blood were collected and 24 officers registered to donate bone marrow. A total of 83,471kg of used clothing, toys, small appliances and other items were received for Christian Action. The proceeds will go to services that care for the needy.

Hong Kong Police College

The Hong Kong Police College (HKPC) seeks to collaborate with Mainland and overseas training counterparts and foster exchange of police best practices. In 2023, after COVID-related travel restrictions were lifted, officers from the Force resumed training exchanges with counterparts on the Mainland and in other parts of the world, such as the Netherlands, Singapore and Switzerland. In reciprocation, the HKPC received delegations from the Mainland, Dubai, Finland and other jurisdictions.

Officers from the Force attended a study programme at the People's Public Security University of China in Beijing.

In partnership with the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau, the HKPC organised Chinese-style Foot Drill Instructor Workshops for 13 Hong Kong youth and uniformed groups. More than 300 instructors were trained in 2023. These workshops not only equipped the young participants with Chinese-style foot drill techniques, but also nurtured a sense of national identity and discipline in them.

The HKPC trained instructors from youth and uniformed groups in the Chinese-style foot drill.

In another youth outreach initiative, the HKPC established the Police Band Cadet to nurture young musicians through both musical training and personal development, and to enable them to become ambassadors of the Force. More than 40 young musicians joined the cadet.

The first batch of the Police Band Cadet performed a march during the passing-out parade in June.

The HKPC focuses on leveraging technology to optimise learning outcomes, integrating knowledge management and enhancing organisational quality assurance in preparation for the future. In 2023, it received several prestigious awards, including a silver in the 2023 Brandon Hall Group Excellence in Technology Awards Programme, and both the Hong Kong and global versions of the Most Innovative Knowledge Enterprise Awards 2023. Notably, it also secured the Asia-Pacific Quality Network's Best/Model Internal Quality Assurance Award for the first time. These accolades were a recognition of the HKPC's achievements in education and training.