With the formal opening of the Police College in January this year, a new programme of foundation training has been rolled out for recruits, following an 18-month review. The first batch of Recruit Police Constables (RPC), who have completed the programme, will pass out from the College on July 8 this year. To enable readers to have a better understanding of the new programme and appreciate the ever-rising training quality of the Force and its determination to strengthen officers' professional developments, OffBeat has talked to members of the Review Team.

Mr Yeung Fu-yiu, Head of the Learning Development Support Centre of the Police College, told OffBeat that the review was thorough. A large number of references and the views of officers at all levels were collected, including training officers, instructors, frontline police constables, sergeants and station sergeants entrusted with supervision duties, sub-unit inspectors, as well as chief inspectors and superintendents from divisions.

Vocational-based training and professionalism

Mr Yeung stressed that preparing recruits to be better police officers and ensuring they are well equipped for effective policing have all along been the foremost objective of the RPC foundation training programme. As such, the revised programme is vocational-based. Nevertheless, as enhancing their capabilities of making analysis and solving problems, as well as promoting lifelong learning are important to the long-term development of individual officers and the Force as a whole, the revised programme puts more emphasis on these matters.

Force Training Officer Tang Ki-yun, Co-ordinator of the Review Team, told OffBeat that in enhancing the professionalisation of the training programme, the revised programme would take in some more effective training modes, such as implementing modular formats to allow for more flexibility, adopting competency-based training and problem-based learning, strengthening scenario-based training to enhance officers' practical skills, and promoting technology-based learning, such as developing e-learning and computer-based learning packages to enhance training and learning effectiveness.

Partnership with universities

The Force has selected the Open University of Hong Kong as its first training partner, and both parties have jointly conducted two modules of the RPC Foundation Training Programme, titled "Psychology in Policing" and "Social Studies in Policing".

"Psychology in Policing" covers communication skills, stress management, victim psychology, conflict management, and skills in handling different special groups, e.g. insane or aggressive persons, the aims being to equip officers with relevant psychological knowledge to deal with inter-personal matters and to prepare them for better policing.

The "Social Studies in Policing" module aims to raise officers' awareness of policing in a social context, with contents covering the roles and functions of the police, professional ethic, accountability and legitimacy of policing, as well as relations with the non-ethnic Chinese community and mass media. Furthermore, different policing models, such as community policing and policing on the Mainland, have also been explored.

Theory, practice & experience sharing

Mr Tang pointed out that all the training materials for the two modules, provided in collaboration with the Open University, had to meet the approval of the Police College to ensure that theories tie in with Force practices. Tutors of the university and instructors of the Police College jointly conducted the tutorial classes for experience sharing.

Woman Chief Inspector Chung Wing-yee of the Recruit Training Division, another member of the Review Team, said that as a new initiative under the revised curriculum, professionals from different fields and frontline officers are being invited to share their experiences with trainees as guest speakers. "Take the 'Social Studies in Policing' module as an example, CSP Cheuk Chun-yin, DRC NTS; CSP Sham Wai-kin, DC MKDIST; CSP Chiu Wai-yin, DC WDIST, and CIP LAM Suk-yin, PCRO YTDIST, and colleagues from the Police Public Relations Branch have been invited to address the trainees. Clinical psychologists of the Psychological Services Group have also shared their experiences in 'stress management' with them," she added.

Academic qualification awarded

A total of 179 recruits from six classes - five male classes and one female class - have received training under the new curriculum, successfully undergone the relevant assessment procedures of the Police College and the University, and achieved good results in all aspects. They are due to graduate on July 8.

Upon successful completion of the new training programme, all trainees will be awarded a "Certificate in Law Enforcement and Security Management", which will pave the way for them to attain higher academic qualifications by pursuing further study in other advanced courses run by the Open University, such as diploma, higher diploma or degree courses. The ultimate goal of this arrangement is to promote lifelong learning among Force members.

All the training materials of the two modules, provided jointly with the university, are under review after a trial run, and it is expected that the revised materials will be available on POINT in the next two months.

Members of the Review Team and Force Training Officers have put in a lot of effort in designing the new syllabus for RPCs