But I was surprised to find that all new Constables coming out from the Police Training School did not have any mock court instruction throughout their basic training. Some with a year's experience still had not touched upon the subject at their Regional Continuation Training sessions.

So the only thing they could do before actually attending court is ask their elder colleagues for their experience and advice. I consider it a very unsatisfactory situation because poor performances in giving evidence will not only affect the case result but more importantly, as is mentioned in the Training Package, cause the image and professionalism of Police to be looked down upon.

I really hope PTS would seriously consider giving mock-court training more emphasis in basic training.

Chief Inspector Luk Kam-hung
Assistant Divisional Commander (Administration)
Hung Hom Division

PTS reply . . .

I totally agree with Mr Luk's view on the importance of mock-court training. Nonetheless, Mr Luk may be interested to know the Recruit Police Constable syllabus has already included a three-hour lecture on "Court Procedures and Giving Evidence in Court", along with three hours' practical training in the Mock Court at PTS. We always welcome all officers' views and suggestions to improve training and recently have conducted studies to collect views from front-line officers and commanders to improve our syllabus. It has always been our mission to provide quality training to recruits to meet the Force's changing needs and to best serve the community.

Cheng See-hing
For the Commandant, PTS






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