JPOs gain international perspective in policing

2 Photos

Three Sergeants have gained an international perspective in policing and broadened their horizons after attending a three-week advanced training course in Western Australia.

The officers, Sergeants James Ho Chi-wai, Simon Leung Sheung and Fox Wong Che-keung, left for Australia in mid March to undertake a collaborative study programme organised by the Force and the Western Australia Police Service.

They took part in a Development Programme Course in the Western Australia Police Academy. The programme is a course normally undertaken by local Senior Constables as part of their promotion system.

Apart from attending classroom training on topics like organisational culture, ethics, risk management and business planning, the trio also visited regional units and joined local policemen on a nighttime patrol.

SGT Ho, who is working in the Major Systems Bureau, said: "While we have already learned management concepts in Police Training School, our attachment had provided us with new ideas on such topics as finance and resource management."

SGT Wong said: "Hong Kong and Australia police forces are different in the sense that a sergeant in Australia may have to look after an entire police station and work out a budget. So it was a bit difficult for me to learn such things at the outset. However, it was a precious chance for me to have learnt from them."

He added that he would apply the skills of human resource management that he had acquired to his work in the Police Tactical Unit.

SGT Leung, who is working in New Territories North's Regional Command and Control Centre, said what he had learned from the study visit would be valuable to his daily work.

Introducing the Force to the host

During their trip, the officers gave presentations on the work and history of the Force to the Australian Police. Having worked in traffic for more than seven years, SGT Ho had briefed his hosts on traffic control and enforcement work. Mr Wong, an ex-member of the Airport Security Unit, had outlined airport security in Hong Kong.

"The Australian Police were particularly interested to know how Hong Kong policemen direct traffic on narrow roads, given Hong Kong is a densely populated area," SGT Leung said.

Experiencing frontline policing

Following the two-week course, the three Sergeants gained an insight into frontline policing at various locations throughout Western Australia when they were attached to three nighttime patrol teams from the Regional Operation Group, which operates in a similar way as the Emergency Unit. This was quite an experience for them as they watched their Australian counterparts make arrests and handle bar brawls. They all agreed that the Western Australia police had carried out their jobs with professionalism.

Experiencing the 'impact' of stun gun

The trio also visited the Tactical Response Group (TRG), a team similar to the Force's Special Duties Unit. They were shown a stun gun used by the Australian elite forces to subdue violent people, and during a demonstration, TRG officers "dared" SGTs Ho and Wong to experience the effects of being shot by the stun gun. SGTs Ho and Wong obliged, but the impact was too much for them.

"I was sent flying by the impact of the stun gun. It's no exaggeration!" said SGT Ho. And SGT Wong concurred, describing it as "electrocution".

Apart from the Metropolitan Police in Western Australia, the trio also saw the Country Police at work. SGT Ho observed that Country policemen, unlike their Metropolitan counterparts, carry out all kinds of duties, ranging from traffic to crime investigations.

Two Sergeants attended the same course at the Western Australia Police Academy in 2003. The Head of the Academy's Management Training Faculty, Inspector Stephen Brajkovich, said the success of the original group, and the positive feedback they had given to their senior officers, led to further interest on the part of the Hong Kong Police.

Posing with staff of the Western Australia Police Academy