North Point officers' concerns on CCTV and name tags dispelled

NORTH Point Police Station was chosen as the pilot station under the Customer Service Improvement Project to test new ideas and procedures that are at the frontline of police work and service quality to the community and, once proven and implemented, to create a benchmark for all police stations in the SAR to follow.

So far the project has seen a series of measures being adopted in the station with the latest being the introduction of personalised name tags to be worn by all officers working in the premises. In addition, a 24-hour CCTV system in the report room allowing Duty Officers to monitor the reception area has also been installed.

Measuring 7cm by 2cm, the clip-on silver-coloured plastic name tags display an officer's name in Chinese and English engraved in black. Initial reaction to wearing name tags was mixed with some officers preferring to remain a tad more anonymous. In order to protect the bearer's privacy, neither the officer's rank nor UI number is displayed.

To date, practical usage and positive reaction from members of the community who come to the station to make a report has allayed officers' concerns.

DPC Yan Wai-kin, who has been working in the North Point Police Station for four years, said: "The name tags are actually a good idea. They serve as a way to introduce police officers to members of the public and as a consequence we are often addressed by name in a much friendlier manner than before. The name tags also help to break down that invisible wall between the police and the public. We now are not just a number, but a name - a real person just like them. In turn, reportees feel more at ease and comfortable. Such a frame of mind is more conducive to giving a calm and accurate statement."

Mr Yan's opinion is shared by Duty Officer WIP Carmen Tam who suggests, however, that the silver name tags are too shiny to be seen clearly and hoped that improvements could be made.

A more contentious issue, initially, was the installation of CCTV cameras in the reception area of the report room with one focusing on its entrance and the other three on police officers manning the reception area as well as on members of the public making reports. Although unable to tape voices, the system can clearly record gestures and facial expressions of all people in the area.

A notice placed prominently in the report room informs members of the public that they are being recorded on the CCTV while conducting their business with report room officers.

"Nobody has raised any objection to it so far," said Ms Tam. "In my opinion, people coming into the station to make reports behave in the same manner as they did before the installation of the device."

The monitors are located in the office of the Duty Officer, who of course has better things to do with his or her time than to sit around surveilling the scene all day.

"The reason behind the installation was to facilitate the Duty Officer in monitoring the reception area of the report room and to minimise incidents of unreasonable complaints and behaviour by members of the public if need be. The tapes could then provide next to irrefutable evidence in case an investigation is called for," explained WIP Tam.

In addition, the system enables Duty Officers to get a better picture of the manning of the reception area and to deploy staff accordingly.

"It must be said of course," said DPC Yan Wai-kin, who doesn't think closed circuit television will have any adverse effect on police officers' work, "CCTV also serves as a constant reminder to us to be patient and polite when dealing with the public. It makes officers behave reasonably, knowing not so much that they are being watched, but rather that what they do is being impartially recorded."

Concludes Ms Tam: "Besides, report room officers will always treat the public well, with or without the CCTV. There's no such thing as officers being made to behave differently under the camera."

Indeed, most officers have now come to disregard the camera as no different than CCTV systems deployed at banks or in other institutional and commercial buildings that deal directly with members of the community whose major function is to help provide taped information for investigative purposes should an emergency or any complaints arise.

And in that respect, the CCTV is seen less as a Big Brother than as a guardian angel.