Rules of Law: Training Officer Davis Law briefs the 12 FPATs on avoiding biases

Some 2,532 candidates (2,429 from General Streams, and 103 from Specialist Streams) were recommended by formations, compared with the 2,710 (2,621 in General Streams and 89 in Specialist Streams) last time. The Paper Board, conducted between September 12 and October 9, short-listed the candidates to 849 from General Streams and 62 from Specialist Streams for interviews that started November 1. The interviews continue until the 21st, followed by the Force Review Board chaired by Senior Superintendent Moderator JPO Promotions Eddie Lam Wah-chiu. Promotion recommendations will then be made to the Commissioner of Police in January.

"This is the third exercise under the revamped JPO Promotion System introduced in 1998, which offers even more transparency and fairness," Mr Lam said. "And to further ensure this impartiality, candidates are being assessed by FPATs from outside formations using a standardised marking system and questions drawn from a centralised question bank. This ensures consistency too."

The whole process is under the supervision of SSP Lam who has briefed the 12 FPATs on the revised promotion system, and emphasised the importance of fairness, objectivity and impartiality in assessing candidates.

"After their appearance before the FPATs, candidates will receive detailed reports and will be made aware of how they fared against the other candidates," he added.

Each FPAT comprises a Superintendent as Chairman, and two Chief Inspectors. They all attended a workshop on selection interviewing skills at the Police Training School on October 24, organised by Training Wing, to bolster their interviewing knowledge and technique.

Training Officer Davis Law said they were told how to ensure good interview preparation and how to avoid assorted biases when making assessments.

"Apart from some theory, they were also given practical exercises such as conducting mock interviews on officers undergoing the Police Constable 10-year-development course at PTS. This not only offered neutrality to conduct the mock interviews, but also feedback on how the FPAT members performed," Mr Law said.

FPAT chairmen welcomed the exercises.

SP Au-Yeung Yan-chun said: "The informative workshop has given us a very systematic approach on how to go about the interviews."

"We have had a lot of training and advice, and will try our best to make sure the interviews are fair for all."

SP Ricky Poon Suet-man said: "The promotion system is getting more scientific and systematic with a lot of improvements, particularly with the introduction of the moderator system." "We have a good combination of FPAT members from both UB and Crime so it will be very fair for candidates no matter which formation they are from. And with the experience we will get being an FPAT chairman, it will be good to know what qualities to look for in officers seeking promotion, as we can later go back and advise our formation colleagues on which areas they need to improve to have a better chance of getting the promotion, making them more competitive. It also gives commanders a better idea of what calibre officers are suitable for promotion."

The other FPAT Chairmen are: Chan Wing-ning, Lau Yan-sang, Gordon To Wai-ching, Chan Kwing-chun, Wong Tat-wah, Elsie Wong Mui-kit, R.A. Rocha, Danny Cheung Pak-man, Shek Wai-wah and Lau King-wai.

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