Police College promotes concept of community policing
The Police College has published a bilingual paper on "Community Policing in Hong Kong" under the auspices of a Strategic Direction (SD) 1 project, which aims at nurturing a common understanding of community policing within the Force. The paper provides a panoramic view of the current community policing strategies and practices at both Police Headquarters and local levels.
Both Mr Dowie and Dr Cheuk hope that the bilingual paper would reinforce officers' concept of community policing
"Community policing benefits citizens, the community, our officers and the Force. It gives citizens a voice in setting law enforcement priorities. It provides a safer community and better quality of life. For officers, it helps nurture an understanding that the community is appreciative of policing capabilities and limitations. The Force also stands to gain in community support for crime prevention and policing programmes," added Mr Dowie.
Following publication of the paper, the Police College has planned a series of training initiatives to enhance officers' understanding of the topic. These include two Management Development Programmes on overseas and local experience, and the topic has become a major component of the college's training programmes.
There are also plans to roll out a facilitation package for Districts later in the year to reinforce frontline officers' concept of community engagement. An e-learning package will also be uploaded onto the Learning Portal for Force-wide dissemination.
"Training emphasises not just dialogue or trust-building, it also solidifies a positive attitude amongst officers and sensitivity to diversity, including racial, cultural and religious differences in the community," said Dr Albert Cheuk, Director of the Police College, whose doctoral thesis was on community policing.
"As police officers, we always aim to maintain an unbiased and apolitical stance in the community, treating all people fairly and impartially," Dr Cheuk added.
Both Mr Dowie and Dr Cheuk encourage Force members to reach out to, and get to know, the communities they are serving, and to foster relationships. They both emphasised that community policing succeeds only through the long-term commitments of all Force members, disciplined and civilian, to forge lasting relationships and work together to prevent crime and build a safer community.
The soft copy of the paper is accessible via Learning Portal on POINT.