As part of the Strategic Action Plan 2005-2008 Management Priority 5.5, the Police College has recently published a brief report on "Policing in Hong Kong".

The report was the result of a study of the Force's policing concepts, practices and strategies undertaken in the latter part of 2005 and in 2006. It is primarily based on information from a documentary review and interviews with key informants.

OffBeat has interviewed the architect of the project, Deputy Commissioner (Management) Fung Siu-yuen, on why and what the Force seeks to achieve with the study.

"The objective of the study," Mr Fung said, "is to enhance officers' understanding of our present policing concepts, practices and strategies. The report, printed in a short booklet format, provides a panoramic view of different aspects and characteristics of policing in Hong Kong."

"In the last century and a half, the Force changed a lot, evolving into the modernised, professional, police organisation of today.

"The Force has long been very busy serving the community; it is time for us to document our policing practices for future reference. In addition to sharing information with our colleagues, the report will also help us explain our philosophy to our overseas and Mainland counterparts," he added.

Service - oriented policing

When asked to describe Hong Kong policing in one single sentence, Mr Fung has this to say: "Service-oriented Policing in Partnership with the Community is our guiding principle." He recommended readers to study the SERVICE acronym on page 7 and the conceptual framework on pages 20-21.

The Police College will also prepare thematic papers on relevant materials extracted from the full report for sharing at training forums and as reference material for briefing key stakeholders and overseas counterparts.

Both the brief and the full reports will be available on the Force Knowledge Management System on POINT.