Left to right: SPs Bernard To and Albert Hoe, CSP Kevan Cooper, SP Henry Ho and SSP Eddie Lam

Previous years have seen the Police Constable to SGT promotion exercise conducted before the SGT to SSGT one, but the move has been reversed this year to allow a more accurate estimate of the junior vacancy situation. It would also relieve some pressure on officers called to attend the interviews, and the Force Promotion Assessment Teams (FPATs).

Chief Superintendent Personnel Management Kevan Cooper said: "By reversing the order we are delaying the start of the PC to SGT exercise until autumn which helps relieve some of the pressure on officers who attend the interviews, and the FPATs. Many staff are parents with children on school holidays in July and August, and they may wish for more family time together.

"Reversing the order is also more logical from a manpower-planning perspective and helps us with our projection of vacancies for the junior ranks."

Mr Cooper emphasised the delay would have no influence on the date of promotions saying they would be made as the actual vacancies arose within the establishment.

"We anticipate a minimum of 50 to 60 vacancies which is comparable to last year, however with projections being what they are, we may end up with more than that figure. It is too early to say right now, but management will continue to keep the number of vacancies under review," he said.

"The exercise will be finalised well before the start of the next financial year and recommendations made to the Commissioner of Police."

A single level of structured promotion assessment at Force level was introduced in 1998 to provide a simpler, more open and transparent system which minimised pressure on the candidates.

Senior Superintendent Moderator Junior Police Officer Promotions Eddie Lam Wah-chiu said that since then, very positive feedback had been attained from officers who said they found the exercises more transparent, impartial and objective. They also liked the idea of having a single interview under the one-tier system.

"Also, candidates are assessed under a standardised marking system and questions asked are drawn from a centralised question bank to ensure consistency of standard is applied across the Force," Mr Lam said. "All FPAT members have been briefed on the revised system this year and the emphasis has been placed on being fair, objective and impartial."

Mr Lam said almost 500 candidates were recommended by formations (474 from Uniform Branch streams and 22 from specialist streams) and were shortlisted to 250 for interview.

The interview phase commenced August 9 and would continue until the end of the month, followed by the Force Review Board. Promotion recommendations would then be made to the CP towards the end of the year. Superintendents would chair the three Force Promotion Assessment Teams.

FPAT members attended a Force Training Wing workshop on July 18, boosting their skills and knowledge in conducting interviews such as through mock exercises.

FPAT Teams A, B and C, would be headed by SPs Albert Hoe Tak-yan, Bernard To Hon-ki and Henry Ho Ming-sun respectively. Each would interview up to 90 of the candidates shortlisted, selected randomly from across the Force.

Each chairman offered their thoughts on this year's exercise and the benefits of the changes.

Mr To said: "On the transparency issue, we will highlight to those candidates who are not shortlisted, the reasons why they were not. We will tailor make individual comments for those people so that in any event, they will benefit whether they are shortlisted or not as they can use those bullet points for future reference."

Mr Ho said: "The composition of board members is very good representing a top cross-section of experienced officers with a high level of credibility in the Force."

Mr Hoe said: "I have so far found the competition to be quite keen, a tight range of very capable SSGTs."



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