The opening ceremony of the third wave of the Crime Officer Mentorship Programme was held at the Police Headquarters on August 9. Acting Assistant Commissioner (Crime) Au Chin-chau presented appointment certificates to the Head Mentor, Superintendent Yau Nai-keung, members of the programme's Executive Committee and 233 mentors-in-charge and mentors.

Speaking at the ceremony, Mr Au reiterated the programme's mission of grooming young officers with potential, through experience sharing and support, to join the crime stream early in their career. Following the first two waves of the programme, nearly 160 mentees have already joined criminal investigation work. New arrangements would be introduced in the latest wave. The scope of the programme would be extended to recruit crime inspectors as mentees, and experienced chief inspectors (CIPs) and inspectors in the crime stream would be appointed to coach junior inspectors.

The ceremony was immediately followed by a training session on coaching by Mr Ho Ka-on, Senior Training Officer of the Civil Service Training and Development Institute, and experience sharing by former mentors and mentees.

The programme was launched in 2011 in accordance with a recommendation made by the Force Study Team on Recruitment and Retention of Crime Officers at District Level. Officers at Inspector or Police Constable ranks who are interested in crime-fighting duties and have not attended the Standard Criminal Investigation Course are invited to join the programme. For details, please contact Head Mentor Yau Nai-keung (adc-crm-yldist; 3661-4603); Executive Committee member Sergeant Liu Po-shan (sgt-fcsv-crm; 2860-2579); or the respective Regional Co-ordinators listed below.