Yau Tsim District Assistant Commander (Crime) Joseph Yeung Chi-choi and Sha Tin Divisional Commander Denys Chan Wing-hong are the first two senior frontline officers nominated to attend the programme in Guangzhou. Under the same programme, two officials from the Guangdong Provincial Public Security Bureau understudied with Central District, as well as Central and Waterfront Divisions for two weeks in October last year.

During their attachment from November 22 to December 3 last year, Mr Yeung and Mr Chan were given by senior officials an overview of the structures, missions, work and management systems of the public security bureaux in Guangdong and Guangzhou; their history and evolutions; the related legal framework; culture and customs.

They also visited different police stations, specialist units, command and control centres and training facilities to observe the different facets of police work on both provincial and municipal levels, including crime investigation and prevention, handling of non-criminal cases, beat patrols, handling of emergencies, neighbourhood policing, and traffic control work, etc.

In an interview with Offbeat, the two Superintendents appreciated the warm hospitality of the host and pointed out that their attachment would help further strengthen networking and the base for better liaison and co-operation between the Force and Guangdong.

"I envisage that in the years to come there will be more and more exchanges between the Force and the Mainland in combating crime, dealing with law and order, operations, training matters and other areas. This attachment will go a long way in generating goodwill and rapport for future exchanges.

"Both I myself and Denys have found the attachment very useful and beneficial in that we've gained a better understanding of not only the work and problems of our counterparts, but also the culture, customs, and economic and political developments in Guangdong. These are valuable experiences for a police officer, and we hope that more Force members would attend the exchange programme", said Mr Yeung.

"The attachment will also help foster fellowship and mutual understanding among individual officers of both parties and as a result, enhance co-operation as a whole," Mr Chan added.

Speaking of their overall impression of their host's work, both officers said: "They're really expanding very fast in recent years and are very eager to learn and improve in terms of work procedures, deployment of resources, systems, law and new technology. They're making a lot of progress on many fronts."

They added that they were also impressed with the ways their host motivates the community to help fight crime as a partner, as what the Force has been doing.

"Guangdong and the Force share the common conviction that public support and partnership is an important tool for the fight against crime!" they noted.

Oberving neighbourhood policing in Guangzhou