Inspector Tony Montgomery-Clarke and Senior Sergeant Peter Heck, State Police Negotiator from the Queensland Police Service (QPS), completed a six-day attachment to the Police Negotiation Cadre (PNC) on August 17. Their study visit, the first of its kind offered by the PNC to its overseas negotiation counterparts, not only offered the officers an opportunity of learning, but also brought new knowledge and experience to the PNC.

Inspector Montgomery-Clarke commented, "The purpose of our study tour was to learn from the world's best with regards to communication and de-escalation techniques, and we certainly found that to be the case with the Hong Kong PNC. With tireless dedication to best practice and relentless strive for excellence, the PNC is considered by many to be the best in the world."

The PNC offered sharing sessions with the QPS negotiators on a wide spectrum of topics, including PNC's research project, training accreditation, public event negotiation and application of hypnotherapy in crisis negotiation. Dr Edmond Lau Kam-lun, head of the Psychological Services Group, also shared his experiences of crowd psychology and operational support to the PNC with the QPS officers.

Senior Sergeant Heck pointed out that the courage, resilience and tenacity of the Hong Kong Police during large-scale public events were truly inspiring. "The police response throughout was world class and set a new benchmark in dealing with large-scale crowd events," he said.

"The lessons we have learned during our tour will significantly improve the quality of our operations in Queensland," said Inspector Montgomery-Clarke. "Likewise, the use of your psychologists to assist on the frontline was equally impressive."

Assistant Commissioner (Operations) Cheung Tak-keung commented, "I am delighted that PNC has arranged this tailor-made study visit for our counterparts from Australia. This would certainly ensure the continuous high standing of the Force in the international law enforcement community."

In the views of Senior Superintendent (SSP) Wong Kwong-hing, Commanding Officer of the PNC, the study visit underlined the expertise and professionalism the PNC had accumulated in the past 40 years.