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The Hong Kong Police College (HKPC) is committed to nurturing trainees with a positive mindset and the required knowledge and skills to become professional police officers serving the community. Over the years, HKPC has been optimising its training programmes to cater for the Force’s development, social needs and modern policing challenges.
Between March and October 2022, the School of Foundation Training (SFT) carried out a comprehensive review of the Recruit Police Constable (RPC) training, focusing on enhancing the training practicality and revitalising mindset development. The major changes in various aspects aim to improve the overall effectiveness of the training so that the new generation trainees can perform frontline police duties more professionally and effectively. In October 2022, the Force management fully affirmed the recommended changes and initiatives, and the revamped RPC training was then fully implemented to open a new chapter for police foundation training.
Improve practicality of training
SFT set up a project team to comprehensively review the training syllabus and related examinations of the course. The project team analysed various course evaluations and studied the views of frontline officers on the training needs and effectiveness. Based on the review results, the 27-week training programme was restructured with training resources re-prioritised. The content of practical exercises was enriched to improve their practicality. Besides, the number and format of examinations were simplified. Without affecting the teaching syllabus, the practical training sessions increased greatly from 101 hours to 252 hours. Scenario-based practical training was added to the subjects of “Psychology in Policing” and “Social Studies in Policing” to enhance knowledge application. The redesigned two-day regional attachment is another major change that provides trainees with valuable opportunities in their final phase of training to apply and test their knowledge and skills acquired in a real-policing environment. On the whole, the revamped programme greatly enhanced the practicability of training and bridged the gap between training and real policing.
Optimising mindset development training
Cultivating positive mindset and values is the base of foundation training. To strengthen the mindset development of recruits, SFT redesigned the entire programme of mindset development training and introduced suitable programmes at various stages. They include a two-day outdoor activity titled “Police Mindset Activation Progamme – PMAP”, “Police Museum Run” (7 km run cum Visit to Police Museum) and “21 km Night March”. The trainees and staff responded enthusiastically to the newly revamped mindset development programme and highly praised the diversity of training activities. The whole set of mindset development training has achieved encouraging results in cultivating trainees’ police mindset, sense of belonging, police identity and sense of pride.
HKPC will keep seeking improvement on the training syllabus and teaching methods to ensure the professionalism and effectiveness of foundation training. To support the frontline effectively, HKPC will also maintain close ties with formations to ensure that the training provided can meet the ever-changing needs of the frontline and the society.
New emblem for SFT
The competition on new emblem design for the SFT was won by Senior Inspector Ling Hoi-ying of RPC Training Division and RPC graduates Ho Chung-ho and Wong Kin-pan. Director of HKPC Wong Chung-chun officiated at the unveiling ceremony of the new emblem on November 25, 2022.
The phoenix in the middle of the emblem features the English letters S, F, and T, the initials of SFT, to depict that every probationary inspector and RPC will have positive attitude, professional skills and rich knowledge to unleash their potential and transform into a professional police officer with strong sense of commitment after enduring the hardships of training. The collaboration between staff and trainees in the design of this new emblem also demonstrates the importance of teamwork and communication. The new emblem comes in line with the recent transformation and new initiatives of the police foundation training programme.
