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Having passed the selection process of the Police Negotiation Cadre (PNC), 14 officers from various units, ranging from police constable to chief inspector, joined the Crisis Negotiation Course (CNC) held at the Police College between November 20 and December 1.
Firstly, applicants for PNC had to pass a two-day selection process comprising four sessions, namely written tests, impromptu talk in both Chinese and English, practical exercise and interview. Those who had passed the selection were required to participate in the two-week residential CNC, which aimed to test the psychological qualities of candidates under high pressure and in adverse conditions. The contents covered topics such as crisis negotiation principles, active listening skills, handling suicide attempt cases, hostage situations, counter-terrorism activities and tactical negotiation. After the daytime theory lessons, the candidates were required to join the evening and midnight practical exercises. Given the multicultural nature of Hong Kong, simulated scenarios involving non-ethnic Chinese attempting suicide were included to test the candidates’ ability to address language communication barriers.
To broaden the candidates’ horizons, PNC especially invited an officer from the Fire Services Department and two officers from the Correctional Services Department to take part in the course to promote exchanges among different departments. Two officers from the Judiciary Police of Macau and another two from the Singapore Police were invited to share their experience with the candidates during the course. In addition, a Police Clinical Psychologist and two officers from tactical unit joined the course to provide candidates with professional knowledge in crisis management and advice on responding to counter-terrorism or hostage-taking incidents.
Those who have successfully completed the CNC will be assigned to handle cases together with experienced members. Finally, only after passing the six-month internship period can they become official negotiators to save lives and resolve crises with “passion, nobility and commitment”.
