Kowloon East (KE) Region staged Exercise BOLTRUNNER earlier in an attempt to enhance co-ordination and communication of various command centres in the region and to gear up officers in handling major incidents.

To pave the way for the exercise, the Operations Wing (OPS) of KE Region reviewed the manpower arrangements and work tasks of KE Operations Room and District Operations Rooms (DORs). The Regional/District Standing Orders were also reviewed.

The first phase of Exercise BOLTRUNNER was launched on August 18, with officers from KE Operations Room, DORs of Kwun Tong District, Sau Mau Ping District, Wong Tai Sin District and Railway District taking part in the activity. Officers from OPS KE acted as the Headquarters Command and Control Centre as well as Kowloon Regional Command and Control Centre to feed relevant information to the respective Operations Rooms. They also played the role of frontline officers to respond to Operations Rooms' instructions. In addition, KE Regional Commander Duncan McCosh and some experienced officers joined the exercise as observers to share their experience and give feedback.

The exercise successfully tested officers' knowledge in running the command centres, keeping essential records, assessing changing circumstances, deploying manpower and enhancing communication. To consolidate officers' professional competence, the second phase of Exercise BOLTRUNNER will commence in the fourth quarter of the year.