The Police College project was envisioned in the Force Strategic Action Plan in 2002. After a thorough study, it was decided that the College would be developed in an incremental manner to become a Centre of Excellence in Police Training and Development.

Assistant Commissioner (Training) and Director of the Police College Robin Tse had this to say about development of the College: "In the course of planning, we have not only examined the existing training services, but also looked at the success factors of many overseas renowned police training institutes and consulted in-service specialist training course providers within the Force. At the end, a number of recommendations have been put forward in a study report to raise our training efficiency and effectiveness. The mission of the College is to equip our police officers with professional ability and integrity to better serve the community."

Professional training and lifelong learning culture

The first and utmost objective of the College is to plan training in a more strategic and holistic manner to provide the training services required for implementing the Force's "Three-year Strategic Action Plan" and annual "Operational Targets". Another objective is enhancing an officer's performance and professionalising training.

Mr Tse explained: "Firstly, we shall incorporate the competency-based concepts in designing our major training courses in order to meet training requirements. As regards professionalisation, the first step is to collaborate with the Open University of Hong Kong in recruits' foundation training programmes, incorporating new academic inputs on policing theories to enhance officers' understanding of policing matters. More importantly, upon completion of their training, officers will be awarded by the university a Certificate in Law Enforcement and Security Management, which will provide a pathway to pursue further study."

Mr Tse stressed that vocational training would continue to be the mainstream curriculum for recruits' foundation training programmes, and that there was no change to the duration of the 27-week foundation training for recruits.

"To ensure a high standard of training services is maintained in the Force, we will strengthen our learning development support functions. Major tasks include establishing a more comprehensive quality assurance framework and enhancing the teaching standards and academic qualifications of trainers.

"Moreover, the College will adopt modern training modes/approaches, such as initiating the modular formats in our training programmes to allow for greater flexibility for trainees, as well as adopting problem-based and scenario-based approaches to enhance officers' practical skills. The College, at the same time, will further expand use of e-learning in all training programmes in order to support classroom lectures and facilitate further study. This is in fact another goal of the College to promote a lifelong learning culture within the Force so as to enhance personal development to meet the challenges of a changing society and the ever-increasing expectations and aspirations of the community," he added.

External co-operation and collaboration

Enhancing co-operation with other institutes and agencies is another important task of the College. Mr Tse said the Force always attached much importance to its collaborative partnership with local tertiary institutions as well as overseas and Mainland law enforcement agencies.

"Regarding training, we have been co-operating with local tertiary institutions all the time. For example, we enter into partnership with universities and tap their specialist knowledge in language and psychological competency training so as to enhance the training services for Force members. Besides, we would like to form partnerships with the renowned police training institutes and police colleges in the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and Singapore, etc. This September, we entered into an agreement on partnership with the Australian Institute of Police Management for exchange and training of instructors on a reciprocal basis.

"We have also been working closely with the public security departments and Public Security Bureau University on the Mainland on exchanges, visits and courses for staff of both sides, such as the Mainland Public Security University studies programme, 'Staff Training Exchange Programme' and 'Mobile Training Scheme', etc."

Continuous development and improvement

To enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of operational processes, Training Wing has been reorganising its structure incrementally since 2004. The new Police College will have five distinct, functional centres with well-defined roles, namely, the Foundation Training Centre (FTC), Professional Development Learning Centre (PDLC), Learning Development Support Centre (LDSC), Research Centre (RC) and College Administration Centre (CAC).

Regarding the College's future development, Mr Tse emphasised that its establishment simply marked the beginning of a new stage in the entire development plan. He explained: "The College will continue to strengthen its training support services, such as strengthening its research capabilities, establishing a research database, enhancing the services provided by the Force Library, etc. As regards academic accreditation, we will broaden the scope of collaboration with universities in training at different levels to facilitate the award of recognised academic qualifications in a systematic and progressive manner."

Facts about the Hong Kong Police College

* The opening ceremony of the Police College will be held at its Aberdeen site (i.e. the current Police Training School) on January 6, 2006.

* The College is composed of five functional centres, namely FTC, PDLC, LDSC, RC and CAC.

* The training facilities of the College can be found all over Hong Kong, including the College Headquarters in Arsenal House of Police Headquarters, Aberdeen site, Fanling site (for police driving and traffic training) and firing ranges in various districts.

It's a big satisfaction for Mr Robin Tse to see police training enter a new epoch