CPC Series:
Be prepared to face frontline duty pressure

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(This article is by Police Constable Wong Chi-wai of Traffic Hong Kong Island)

I am a PC attached to Traffic HKI. During my early days in Traffic, my Police motorbike was the most powerful within the Force. It never occurred to me that I should treat members of the public politely and tactfully. No wonder the Force often received complaints against me.

As I am now more mature, I am aware of developments around me. I show restraint rather than disrespect towards the public. Let me relate an incident which I think is very useful for frontline officers.

It was last New Year's Eve when I was assigned to handle traffic diversions in the shopping area of Causeway Bay. During the festive season, traffic in Causeway Bay is always busy, necessitating special traffic control measures. The bus stops along Yee Wo Street that evening were closed temporarily to facilitate traffic flow.

I was with my motorbike off a bus stop, which was closed half an hour ago, to ensure that traffic there flowed smoothly. A man in his 30's angrily approached me from the bus stop and yelled at me. He was annoyed because the suspension of the bus stop had prevented him from taking the shortest route to his home in Tai Hang Road. He kept on scolding me for several minutes during which I tried in vain to interrupt him and explain the situation. I felt very embarrassed and wanted to teach him a good lesson. However, I reminded myself that had I been in his position I would have been even more ill-tempered. Then from amongst the onlookers, a stout man came forward and reproached the yelling man. Eventually I separated them and requested them to leave the area.

The incident made me realise that frontline colleagues should always be prepared to face the pressure arising from various kinds of incidents. If I had taken action to teach the man a good lesson for yelling at me, the onlookers would not have condoned my action. It would have exacerbated the delicate situation.