Yuen Long Divisional Commander Barry Smith has taken community policing at its most literal definition by going directly into the public arena with a panel of his senior officers and inviting comments and suggestions from anyone who wishes to make them. He mulled over this initiative after attending an anti-crime seminar.

"After we had presented our figures we asked for questions from the floor. To my surprise, several members of the public brought up issues that were entirely unrelated to the subject we had been discussing. It was obvious they were just taking advantage of the opportunity to air their grievances directly to police management. When I considered this I realised that short of going to the report room or complaining to the press, the average member of the public has very few chances to address the police about issues that may be troubling them," said Mr Smith.

Now once a month Mr Smith goes into a particular housing estate or village with his Assistant Divisional Commanders for operations and crime, sets up a panel in a community hall or school and then invites anyone to come forward and talk to the police directly.

Prior to the visit, Police Community Relations Officer Joe Kong Kai-cho puts up posters in the area and informs local community leaders of the upcoming meeting. The session normally lasts for about an hour and a half and Mr Smith and his colleagues generally take 20 to 30 questions from the floor.

Speaking of a previous visit, Assistant Divisional Commander (Operations) Wong Moon-tong said: "We soon realised that what troubles the average person in the street is not robbery or burglary which they seldom experience but rather more mundane matters like youths gathering at night or unwelcome visits by sales representatives. It was also reassuring to know that most of those present appreciated the work of the police and most of their comments were very positive."

Assistant Divisional Commander (Crime) Eric Wong Kai-chung was surprised at seeing the turnout in one of the village areas. "Yuen Long villagers can be difficult to handle as they have their own customs and history and do not always take police intervention kindly but at our last meeting, around 40 villagers turned up and kept us occupied for over two hours. They really appreciated us coming into their community and the session ended on a very positive note, with both sides understanding the other's viewpoints better."

Mr Smith sees the need to extend his meet-the-police session to the ethnic minorities. "I've decided to use the same principle but apply it to ethnic and not geographical boundaries. Recent meetings with both the Pakistani and Nepalese communities proved very useful in terms of understanding their unique positions in the community and we resolved to continue to gathe on a monthly basis," he said.

The meet-the-police session is well received by the local residents