The three attended the National Family Violence Networking Symposium on October 2, which was jointly organised by the Singapore Ministry of Community Development, the Youth and Sports (MCYS), and the Singapore Police Force (SPF).

CPPU Clinical Psychologist Ephraem Tsui and Woman Senior Inspector Esther Lo jointly presented a paper titled "The case for child-focussed intervention: Hong Kong Police care for child victims and witnesses in family violence", and illustrated the Force's multi-disciplinary approach with a case study.

At the invitation of the Ministry and other key personnel on child protection, Mr Tsui and WSIP Lo, along with Ms Hannah Yip of SWD, then explained how the Force co-operated with other professionals in handling and investigating child abuse cases.

The three also conducted an intensive course on child-focussed investigative interview.

Twenty-three specially selected police and child protection officers attended the three-day training session, which covered victims and abusers psychology, interview strategies, questioning skills, interview processes and tools, and special handling difficulties. Most of these topics were new to the participants and their feedback was quite positive. At the conclusion of the session, most of the participants wished to attend refresher training in the future.

The three officers also took the opportunity to visit the child protection teams and facilities in Singapore, as well as their Police Psychological Services and police academy. They found these exchanges very stimulating and useful.

Earlier this year and last year, CPPU played host to visitors from Singapore, including Mr Toh Han Li, District Judge; Ms Rebecca Chee of the MCYS; Psychologists Mr Jansen Ang of the SPF and Ms Eunice Tan of the Home Team Academy. They considered the Force's child protection system quite advanced and unique in Asia.

The two CPPU officers and the Social Welfare Department officer have had useful exchanges on child protection with experts in Singapore