Off Beat

Pilot project setting
new standards in police service

Information sheets for the most commonly reported cases are now available to North Point Police Station's clients - the public Under a trial of the Customer Service Improvement Project of Eastern Police District, a series of improvement items are being implemented, evaluated - and embraced in North Point Division. . .
AS YOU NOW KNOW, as part of the Force Consultancy Support Project, North Point Station of Eastern District has been chosen as a "pilot" station to improve service to the public and police. The aim of the project is to create a benchmark for overall service quality standards at stations throughout the Force and to help usher the Hong Kong Police into the 21st Century.

While the project is based on developing initiatives from the project consultants and Force members, input from community leaders, District Fight Crime Committee members, residents, and so forth is an integral part of the undertaking and they have been actively involved in the project which swung into gear at the beginning of March with the enhancement of report room service and facilities for the public and police personnel.
Those familiar with the station prior to the project notice the difference immediately: from report room staff wearing personalised name tags that provide a more human touch when dealing with members of the public (there's been much positive feedback from officers who are being addressed by their names by people coming to report cases); to the new reception facility in the report room and provision of a lobby area greatly improving customer management.
"We are systematically testing a range of ideas to improve the speed and quality of our report room service," said WCIP Jocelyn Cheung of the North Point Division customer service improvement project team. "Our goal is to render optimum service to the people who come to use North Point Police Station and ultimately in report rooms Force-wide and to the people of Hong Kong."
To this end, eight new printed report forms were designed for members of the public to report cases. With the use of the forms, the time needed for duty officers to take customers' statements has been dramatically shortened and well-received by users who have commented on their efficiency. "About 480 printed report forms have been filled out since introduction in early March most reporting a loss of some kind," said WCIP Cheung.
Along the same line, simple bilingual information sheets for the most commonly reported cases are now available in the report room to assist members of the public in understanding reporting procedures. Information sheets cover: lost and found property, traffic accident damage only, crime reports, missing persons, missing domestic helpers, complaints of unjust issue of fixed penalty tickets, complaints against police, telephone nuisances, animal bites, death cases, common assault, dispute cases, noise complaints and vehicle obstructions.
From a frontliner's viewpoint, PC Chan Yuk-on, who has worked in Eastern District for 11 years, praised the newly designed information sheets and printed report forms. "They give a clear picture of case handling procedures to police officers as well as people coming to the station to report a case. The forms are particularly useful to new graduates of the Police Training School who don't have much experience in handling cases," he explained. "At the same time, it's quicker for the police to process statements this way than in the old manner."
The convenience of using the printed report forms was expressed by reportee Mr Chung, who came into the North Point Police Station to report mislaying his mobile phone in a taxi. "The reporting procedure is clear and short," said Mr Chung, who spent about ten minutes in all reporting his loss. "I also appreciate the installation of privacy partitions in the front area of the report room."
According to report room officers and observers of the project, new ongoing user friendly design changes to the report room (including the installation of a modified counter, soft seating, privacy panels, writing shelves and helpful signage) have made customers feel more comfortable and at ease.
Meanwhile, communication has been enhanced between duty officers and customers who are now routinely informed on the type of follow-up action that will be taken on their cases. A number tag system for more effective prioritisation of customers when appropriate has also been introduced. For non-police matters reports, telephone numbers of related organisations are available in the report room to minimise disruption to core police activities.
To minimise incidents of unreasonable complaints and behaviour, 24-hour close circuit TV and cameras have been installed in the report room and its lobby area.
Also as part of the project, all North Point Division report room staff go through a customer service training programme (which includes face-to-face and telephone handling in different situations) during their training days.
In addition, the implementation of improvements to the working environment of police officers such as the installation of an air conditioning system in their changing rooms and the setting up of a resource centre in NP Police Station meets officers' needs for access to information and for self development and provides a meeting area for Work Improving Teams and other group discussion. Two terminals linked to the internet and three linked to the Reference Material System are provided at the resource centre, which is open to all NPDIV officers.

Eastern Fight Crime Committee Chairman Chan Bing-woon, who has participated in the Observer Scheme under the Customer Improvement Project said that he has received positive feedback from both members of the public using the station's reporting facilities and from the station's officers who were satisfied with the ongoing improvements.
"Evaluation of the early wins of the project, together with the results of customer surveys will be reviewed to work out the long term improvement plan in conjunction with the tangible changes in North Point Police Station that are recommended by the professional design consultant," WCIP Cheung said.
Stay tuned.

Visitors who come to make a report all praise the station's new privacy partitions

TALES FROM THE FRONTLINE . . .

Long way down, SPC Leung (right) and PC Leung at ground zero outside the 21-storey building in Kwun Tong

AROUND 8:30am on March 25, Senior Police Constable Leung Chiu-ping was on patrol in Kwun Tong when he received an emergency call concerning a possible suicide attempt by a man at a factory building on his beat. Both SPC Leung and his colleague, Police Constable Leung Chuk-nam, ran to the 21-storey building and with the assistance of its watchman made their way to the rooftop in a matter of minutes.

They found a distraught man sitting on the ledge of a water tank, facing the street, with the intention of jumping to his death.

SPC Leung calmly approached the man and tactfully engaged him in conversation in an effort to calm his emotions and distract him from his immediate intentions. Meanwhile his colleague PC Leung Chuk-nam's role was to standby, keep a close watch on the situation, then help Senior Police Constable Leung grab the man when the opportunity presented itself.

Recalls SPC Leung: "I asked the man what I could do to help him out and prevent him from jumping. He told me that he wanted to die because his wife had left him and his daughter and although he had tried to find her - his search had been in vain. He had even gone as far as printing, posting up and distributing leaflets with a description of his wife and her picture on them. He was throwing some of these leaflets down to the streets below. I could see that the man was extremely depressed and serious about jumping."

Using the excuse of not being able to hear him clearly, SPC Leung climbed up to the water tank where the man sat and slowly inched towards him, all the while talking: "I told him that if he jumped his wife and daughter would be left alone with no one to take care of them. But the man wasn't responding."

So SPC Leung changed his tactics. He told the man that the Force could be enlisted in helping to locate his wife through its Missing Person Bureau's computer system, and while keeping an eye on the man's movements, used his beat radio to commence a computer check. At the same time, he approached the man asking for a leaflet in order to get more details relating to the description of the his estranged spouse. This worked well and the man calmed down considerably. Noticing that, SPC Leung seized the opportunity to grab him and with the assistance of PC Leung Chuk-nam and other police officers who reached the scene, successfully pulled the potential jumper to a safe area on the roof.

"When I approached the man, the only thing on my mind was to calm him down and keep him from jumping," recalled SPC Leung. "I kept him talking for over a quarter-hour. The opportunity arose for me to grab him safely and bring an early end to the incident."

Attached to Patrol sub-unit 1 of Kwun Tong Division, SPC Leung joined the Force in 1977 and has served in various formations including PTU, Wong Tai Sin and Tsuen Wan Divisions.

After the incident he said that in his 21-years with the Hong Kong Police this was the most dangerous rescue experience he has been part of - even more risky than when he had prevented a deranged man from attempting to pour gasoline on a group of people he was threatening to burn.