WHEN asked about Transport Bureau's recruitment policy CIP TPT Ng Kwok-keung said: "Drivers are recruited from their parent Region, by the Region, for the Region. Their Records of Service and application forms are screened at Divisional, District, Regional (RMTO) level and at TPT HQ by an SIP, CIP and the Force Motor Transport Officer (FMTO) who has the final say. Officers with a poor or inconsistent record are not accepted. The reality is that TPT is not a dumping ground."

Added SSP Transport Mark Buxton: "There is clear Force policy on a TPT driver's career which is directed towards supplying formations with their requirements and a fair rotation of duties. The idea is to give officers the opportunity to be full time drivers for a limited period, if they wish. A Transport Bureau posting should be seen as a posting like any other tour of duty - like SDS for example. It is not an obligation to drive for the rest of one's career.

"The objective of the current policy is to create and maintain a dynamic group of officers who have volunteered to serve, at any given time in their career, as TPT drivers. If and when they leave TPT they resume general duties but with the additional skill of being able to drive highly specialised police vehicles."

"A trained driver," he continued, "is a valuable resource to a formation commander allowing much greater flexibility as to how the officer concerned is deployed. The ultimate result of this policy, we hope, will be that much of the historic stigma attached to officers who drive regularly within the Force will be removed and that formation commanders will look carefully at the driver resources at their disposal and deploy them to maximum advantage."

To this end, the word "cadre" has been banned in Transport Bureau. Officers are now Transport Bureau (TPT) drivers. A cosmetic change, but one that reflects present thinking.

Recent initiatives by TPT have included the production of a recruitment poster which clearly outlines the career path for a driver emphasising that he or she may leave TPT after serving for two years.

"Recruitment figures are improving," said CIP Ng. "For 1997, 108 drivers were recruited. Comparing the first two months of 1998 with the same in '97 we can see a 320 per cent rise in recruitment."

Added FMTO Stuart Jones: "TPT is also in the process of creating a small group of officers within the driver establishment designated as Driver Operators who will act as a frontline reserve for specialised units when they require additional driver resources such as the VIP Protection Unit.

"We are also creating a group of trained TPT drivers who will drive and operate specialised vehicles such as the Force Mobile Command Unit (FMCU), EOD vehicles, and so on. These well-trained, highly motivated drivers will be 'the brightest and the best' of TPT and will provide a quality support service.

Click Photo Feature for more new Force vehicles

DEVELOPMENTS in vehicles are happening so fast that keeping up-to-date is a full time job for Transport Bureau.

"Look at our large vans used by PTU, EU and Districts," FMTO Stuart Jones pointed out. "Eight years ago they were basic commercial vans with no extras. Today, the new vans have power steering, aircon, airbags, anti-lock brakes, seatbelts on every seat and computer chips running the engines.

"We now spend five times as much on lights, sirens and markings as we did five years ago. Even the siren loudspeaker has been moved from the roof to the front of the engine for better performance and reduction of noise for the crew."

Transport Bureau has worldwide contacts with manufacturers and police forces. All members of the Bureau are involved and in the recent past have talked to Highway Patrolmen in the Nevada Desert, looked at cameras on motorcycles in Finland and given the closing lecture to the prestigious National Police Fleet Managers' Conference in the UK.

No detail is too small nor project too big for Transport Bureau. Projects presently under consideration include a driving simulator for Police Driving School, a new siren developed by Leeds University, and a better lock for motorcycle panniers.

Quality control visits are made regularly to contractors while vehicles are in the process of being converted, and every single vehicle is inspected by a member of the Bureau before being taken into service.