In support of the recommendations arising from the review on the riot in Mong Kok, the Force has established a cadre of selected, trained and proven commanders (the Force Command Cadre) to provide an effective body of officers capable of assuming an effective field command role for major pre-planned or crisis response operations. The Force Command Cadre is headed and overseen by Regional Commander of Kowloon East Duncan McCosh and answerable to the Director of Operations.

To further build capacity and professionalism for command and decision making for this cadre of commanders, the Force Command Cadre Steering Group, with the assistance of the Operations Wing and the Police College, ran the Advanced Incident Command Course (AInCC) from June 5 to 9.

The AInCC was a five-day course, and attended by 23 commanders from the rank of Superintendent to Chief Superintendent. With its focus on major pre-planned and crisis response incidents, the course was designed to further develop the core skills and qualities required to manage crises and contingencies in public order and internal security situational policing.

The opening of the course was officiated by Deputy Commissioner (Operations) Lau Yip-shing, who highlighted that the Force Senior Management places great emphasis on ensuring that the Force takes all necessary steps to prepare for any major incidents, terrorist attacks or large scale public events. He further stated that "these types of incidents may strike Hong Kong at any time and it is important that the Force maintains a state of readiness to respond. But knowing what to do is not enough in itself, we must also have the correct mindset to embrace the challenges and assume the responsibilities attached without delay in handling these events". He also urged the participants to seize the learning opportunities that the course would provide as well as the exercises that would be conducted.

The course syllabus itself consisted of briefings and presentations as well as discussions and interactive scenario-based training. In addition, the learning experiences were reinforced throughout the course by a series of intensive tabletop exercises involving major incidents, terrorist attacks, public events and internal security scenarios.

Attendance at the AInCC will be a core requirement for commanders selected for the Force Command Cadre. The participants agreed that although the AInCC was intensive and challenging, it was at the same time extremely rewarding. It has enhanced their professional knowledge and command capabilities so that they were better able to assess and effectively command different incidents.

Speaking to the participants when he handed out the attendance certificates after the course, Mr McCosh commented, "I believe one of the most important lessons of this course is that every single member of the Force must be ready and prepared to respond to any major incident." He reiterated that this course had provided an excellent opportunity for the participants to strengthen and exercise their knowledge, tactical awareness and decision-making skills.

Mr McCosh concluded that the feedback he had received from the participants had been extremely positive, which reflected the great deal of thought and hard work that had gone into planning and running the course. He thanked all the officers, be they guest presenters, members of the facilitation team or those working behind the scenes, for their contribution in making this initiative a success.