Course on communication in stressful situations
Communicating with the public under stressful and emotional situations is undoubtedly part of police officers' job, and surely a challenging one.
Do you know how to cope with your feelings, thoughts and behaviour when members of the public react in an aggressive manner? Have you ever faced the distressing task of breaking the news to some ones of the deaths of their beloved? These
questions will be discussed at a training course entitled
"Interpersonal Communication for Police Officers under Stressful and Emotional Situations"(ICP) jointly organised by the Training Development Bureau and the University of Hong Kong (HKU).
"As the head of Training Wing, I recognise the huge potential for the service quality and professionalism that lie in enhancing the personal qualities of individual members of the Force," said Assistant Commissioner (Training) David Thomas.
"Given our long-standing ability in maintaining operational efficiency at a very high standard, equipping our officers with human interaction skills has become ever more important," he added.
Hence the Training Wing has offered various learning
opportunities on human skills, such as the Training Day package on "Communication Skills" and seminars on EQ and AQ. The ICP training course represents a further step to enhance practical interaction skills, which are integral to professionalism.
The training course, comprising 10 sessions running from
January to March, is free of charge and the enrolled officers are taking the course in their spare time in the evening. It is being conducted by faculty members of the HKU, namely Dr
Gracemary Leung, Director of Psychological Services Unit; Dr Frendi Li, Assistant Professor, and other psychologists. The objective of the course is to equip officers with knowledge and practical skills to interact effectively and professionally with
people under difficult situations, which include breaking bad news. Moreover, the course emphasises practical skills, with course members participating in scenario-based role-plays and case discussions.
The course has met with overwhelmingly favourable response. In view of the keen interest shown by officers, a train-the-trainer workshop for training instructors has been planned so that the training materials will be used to further enrich the existing
training curriculum. Besides, an e-learning package is being developed for all officers to learn from the videos of the lectures.
Initial feedback from the participants has been very positive. So, if you are interested in what has been discussed in the course, just approach any of the enrolled officers and ask them to share their learning with you.
The ICP course is well received by participants