He spoke on the process of the cultural change of the Force, as well as the efforts made by the Force for enhancing its service quality and promoting Police community relations in recent years. He said the Force was a service-oriented professional team, which endeavoured to enhance its service quality and manpower training. The Force was also committed to promoting Police community relations and actively engaging the community and identified the needs of the public so as to enlist their support and win their confidence.

Engaging the Community

The School Liaison Officer (SLO) post has been created under the command of the PCRO of each Police district. SLOs are dedicated to maintaining liaison and communication with school management, social workers and parents, as well as enhancing public concern about youngsters and public alertness to school crimes in order to prevent, in a more effective way, youngsters from going astray," he added.

Mr Tang went to say: "The Police Public Relations Branch (PPRB) established in the Police Headquarters is responsible for coordinating the external public relations matters at Force level. The PPRB is required to maintain close communication with all sectors of the community and media agencies. Apart from collecting their views, the PPRB takes the initiative to clarify the position and policy of the Force."

The PPRB is also committed to working with business corporations to promote educational and publicity activities for the prevention of youth crime, such as the "JPC Award" co-organised with the Hong Kong Bank, the "Help the Police Fight Youth Crime Competition" co-organised with the Hang Seng Bank, and the "JPC Leadership and Management Training Project" sponsored by the Bank of China (Hong Kong).

"When talking about the activities organised by the PPRB, we cannot leave out the well-known 'Junior Police Call' (JPC). The JPC project was launched in 1974. It was only a five-minute TV programme at the time which aimed at promoting fight crime messages to youngsters," he added.

To meet the needs of the community and the young generation, the JPC conducted a comprehensive review in 2006 and the JPC Central Advisory Board (CAB) was established. Members of the public, including academics, principals of secondary schools, representatives of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), professionals and JPC Honourary Presidents, were invited to join the CAB so that JPC activities could be enriched with the support of people from all sectors of the community.

At present, the JPC has developed into a semi-uniformed unit which focuses on strengthening training for members, leaders and advanced leaders with a view to developing and enhancing their leadership, management skills and police knowledge, and equipping them as future leaders of society.

"The JPC activities significantly contribute to the promotion and cultivation of working partnership of the Force with different sectors of the community," Mr Tang noted.

Public Recognition of the Force

"The positive comment of the public on the Force is definitely a great encouragement to our colleagues. It also helps us map out the direction of the future development of the Force, " he said.

As pointed out by Mr Tang, the Common Purpose and Values set by the Force in 1996 clearly states that the Force's vision is for "Hong Kong to remain as one of the safest and most stable societies in the world".

"To achieve this vision, all Force members must take upon themselves the responsibility of carrying out seven duties, which include, inter alias, upholding the rule of law, maintaining law and order, and preventing and detecting crime. Moreover, more emphasis are to be put on the eight values of integrity, respect for human rights, fairness in law enforcement, acceptance of accountability, professionalism, dedication to quality service, responsiveness to change, and effective communication. We can only serve the public with devotion and dedication if we have the correct values," he noted.

Mr Tang pointed out that the Force had been organising the Living-the-value Workshop every two years since 1997. By requiring the participation of all ranks of staff, the Workshop aims at encouraging Force members to live out the Force's values and to identify through discussions their difficulties in living out those values.

He said: "The Workshop has now been on its fifth wave and has covered themes such as integrity and honesty, internal communication, and building a caring workforce. The Force is now launching a new wave of the Workshop with 'Fairness in All Our Dealings' as its main theme. During the Workshop, staff at lower level will express their views and difficulties so that the management may seek ways to address their concerns. This will then help reinforce the service culture within the Force."

Caring for staff

"In this regard, we have been launching a healthy lifestyle programme since 1996. Under the programme, the 31 sports clubs and 14 arts clubs within the Force will organise healthy activities on sports and culture and encourage the participation of staff members and their families," said Mr Tang.

He said the Force also holds seminars on a regular basis to impart knowledge on a healthy lifestyle. The topics include emotions management, interpersonal relationship and prudent financial management. At these seminars, the staff will learn the skills of leading a balanced and healthy lifestyle.

In leading a healthy lifestyle, Mr Tang continued, many Force members had looked beyond their personal interests and served the community by providing voluntary services for charitable organisations. To ensure an effective allocation of resources, the Force has been coordinating the services provided by the Force volunteer groups for the organisations in need since 2004. The services include warm clothing for the disadvantaged, caring for the elderlies, and organising fund-raising activities. In last year, the Force volunteer groups provided a total of 74,000 hours of voluntary services for people in need.

More Challenges for Force

He told the participants, "I sincerely hope that you will support the Force continuously. With your support and trust, all ranks of the Force will spare no effort to ensure the success of the Events while maintaining Hong Kong as one of the safest and most stable societies in the world."

The participants included Ms Christine Fang, the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Council of Social Service, Mr Stephen Po, the Vice President & Public Sector Committee Chairman of CPA Australia Hong Kong China Division, and other representatives of the NGOs.

Commissioner Tang King-shing speaking at the HKCSS luncheon meeting