Balances in Law Enforcement III - Career Stages
Force will reward those who work hard

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But SIP Choi quickly points out that while expecting officers to "do more and do better", the Force has provided them with a big support and would duly reward those who work hard.

In an interview with Psychological Services Group and Staff Relations Group, SIP Choi, together with Sergeant Lai Chi-wai from Kowloon City Division, spoke of the changes that police work has brought to their perspectives of career development, a balanced life, and goals for the future.

SIP Choi, who is attached to PTU, believes that rising public expectations, coupled with a lack of understanding of the natures and difficulties of police work, had made some JPOs feel uneasy and adopt a negative view of their work. Supervisory officers should take note of this and do something to help those officers, he suggested.

Having risen from the rank of PC, SIP Choi fully appreciates such feelings and, therefore, has been trying his best to help. "I take the initiative to talk to the officers and share my experiences and views with them in the hope that they would see things more positively. I've no idea whether this will work, but if one out of 10 officers I've talked to would make some improvement, I'll be very happy," he noted. He said he believed he was in a better position to influence those officers after his promotion to the inspectorate rank.

Time also seems to have brought some changes to SIP Choi's views about goals for his career and family life. Unlike the earlier days when he was eager to get promotion, nowadays he considers getting "recognition and appreciation" of his work more important.

"My philosophy now is to get my work done and done well, and be ready to take on extra responsibilities. Promotion is not my major goal because it's something out of my control. If it comes your way, it's all the better," he said.

SIP Choi conceded that before his promotion, he put career before family, but is now trying to strike a balance between the two. Over the years, he gradually came to realise that family support is also essential for his work.

"I seldom talked about my work at home before, but nowadays I've changed and sometimes talk to my wife about my problems. I think this is good both for my wife and me. I've even brought a book for spouses of police officers in the hope she would better understand police work and my problems," he added.

It appears that Sergeant Lai has also gone through the same changes in life perspectives as SIP Choi.

He had been as keen as SIP Choi to get promotion. Failures had never deterred him from keeping on trying. Even when he was recuperating from serious injuries sustained in an earlier shoot-out in 2001, SGT Lai left the hospital for the Promotion Board, and eventually got his promotion.

Though having recovered from a serious shot wound to his back after two weeks in ICU and a long recuperation in hospital, SGT Lai is still being haunted by pains on the back and legs these days, and has to take "pain killers" constantly. When it appeared that the pains would be around for a long time, he heeded doctor's advice "to accept the pains as part of your life".

Though being given indoor work because of his injuries and endless pain, SGT Lai said he still took a positive attitude towards his work and would try his best to get his work done. He added that he also took a realistic attitude towards his own physical limitations, and would make good use of his experience at work.

SGT Lai said the incident had somewhat changed his outlook and priorities of life. Having narrowly brushed with death, he now treasured his family above all things. "My wife has been a great support to me during my rehabilitation. Now I would seize every opportunity to spend a vacation with my wife, which I never did before I got hurt," he stated.

During his months of sick leave, he also felt he ought to continue doing something meaningful as a police officer. So he started working as a volunteer helper for some voluntary organisations, hoping to "spread the messages of love and care, and to show how precious life is".

Both officers said they still considered their work very meaningful, and vowed to do their best to discharge duties. They hope to see more public understanding and appreciation of the problems they encounter as police officers.

In closing, both officers reminded their fellow officers what they are doing would "benefit a lot of people".

For those who have been working as Police Officers for ten and more years, their career has reached the "Golden Period" for promotion. Their striving for promotion is reflected in their diligence and drive to give outstanding performance at work and their unceasing effort to pursue further studies in order to be well-equipped for challenges. Heavy workload, keen internal competition, and self-imposed high demands are major stressors at this stage. Yet, the majority of police officers are able to turn the stress into a driving force for their goal of promotion.

While police officers focus on promotion, they may at the same time find it very difficult to balance other important aspects of their lives, such as their young families. Many police officers believe that if they get promoted, they can offer a better standard of living for their families. Therefore, they consider it worthwhile to sacrifice the time with their family for the short term in order to work hard for a "better future". However, in some cases, police officers were so involved in promotion exercises that they missed the chance to maintain the least communication with family members. Promotion does not necessarily bring a "better future" but instead tensions to marriage and a distant family relationship.

For a few police officers, their drive and motivation may be worn out by failing to achieve promotion after repeated attempts. They may judge themselves as "losers". The feeling is especially sour when they watch their colleagues and even junior officers becoming their supervisors. No wonder a police psychologist from the States has described promotional disappointment as "injuries without violence".

The major tasks of police officers at this stage are to find their own direction in their career, handle their frustration in the process of seeking promotion, and balance work life with the needs of their young family. One may find some wisdom in the experiences on promotion shared by SIP Choi Tung-tsoi and SGT Lai Chi-wai - clear and realistic beliefs on promotion, positive attitude towards success and failure, assurance of their own self-worth independent of the results of promotion, and drawing strong support from their family by maintaining a quality communication with their spouses.

Completing PTU training is a big day for SIP Choi and his family