Director of Police College Paul Lau and the Director of the Assessment and Training Centre in the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prof Darius Chan, signed a service agreement on an ”Emotional Fitness” project on September 12, marking commencement of Emotional Fitness training in the Force.
Seven train-the-trainer workshops will be held this and early next year to train up about 200 officers from Formations as facilitators. In addition, a Training Day Package was launched this month and three more will be rolled out in February, April and June next year, during which facilitators will provide training to other Force members. Moreover, workshops for officers at Senior Superintendent and above ranks will be organised in the 3rd and 4th quarters of next year.
Mr Lau pointed out: ”Emotional Fitness training develops officers' positive emotions and resilience. It helps them both at work and in daily life, with results of better work performance and enhanced relationships with families and friends. Such training is based on the studies and research findings in positive psychology. We are very glad that we can collaborate with a university partner to design and conduct the training for the benefit of every Force member.”
According to Prof Chan and the university's Clinical Psychologist, Ms Debbie Pong, training in resilience and positive emotions has been conducted in many western countries in recent years in police forces, law enforcement agencies, and schools. For example, training in the USA has adopted a train-the-trainer approach, with trainers and teachers learning the skills and later teaching their colleagues and students.
