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New committee set up to coordinate |
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A Force Committee on Complaints Prevention (FCCP) has been set up to replace the Complaints Prevention Committee (CPC) with a view to centralising and better coordinating efforts to formulate complaints prevention initiatives and strategies. With Assistant Commissioner (Service Quality) Wong Fook-chuen as Chairman, the newly formed FCCP has a membership comprising Complaints and Internal Investigations Branch personnel, the Chairpersons of Regional Complaints Prevention Committees (RCPC) and other Major Formation representatives at Senior Superintendent rank. Mr Wong noted: "The Force is committed to preventing and reducing complaints against police. Further to formation of the five RCPCs, the new Force-level committee has been set up to assume the role of an overall monitoring and coordinating body which will examine strategies to help reduce complaints against Force members. Force management places strong emphasis on complaints prevention and strives for excellence in service quality." Mr Wong also highlighted the achievements made by the CPC prior to its dissolution and thanked CPC members for their contributions. "The CPC has done an exceptional job. I am thankful to the contributions its members have made. However the time has come to move our complaint prevention work to a new level and I am sure members of the CPC will continue to play an integral role in the new forum." he said. The FCCP's terms of reference were agreed at the forum's first meeting on April 28 and RCPC Chairpersons took the opportunity to share their Formations' initiatives on complaints prevention. The meeting noted a drop in complaint cases in several Police Districts in the first quarter of this year. Two of the Districts, Yau Tsim (YTDIST) and Kwai Tsing (KWTDIST) recorded decreases, when compared with both the first and the fourth quarters of 2009. Speaking of the initiatives Districts had employed to reduce complaints, YTDIST Deputy Commander, Senior Superintendent (SSP) Paul Lau, who is Chairman of the Kowloon West (KW) RCPC, emphasised that the initiatives were aimed at supporting frontline duties, not finding fault. He pointed out: "The practices adopted by KW in complaints prevention support the Strategic Directions and frontline officers. By analysing complaint trends, KW RCPC has studied how to create a working environment where frontline officers will be less vulnerable to complaints." Highlighting some of KW’s best practices in complaints prevention, SSP Lau continued: "Many complaints arose from traffic and dispute cases. In support of the Force's Strategic Direction of Engaging the Community, KW RCPC encourages Formations to liaise with taxi and public light bus associations to explain traffic enforcement procedures, such as Selective Traffic Enforcement Policy and public complaints at certain problematic areas." "Complainants, including those from the Non-ethnic Chinese (NEC) Community, were invited to take part in the production of video clips on complaints prevention, based on real scenario cases submitted by different Formations. The video clips were used in training packages for Training Days as well as daily briefings to help officers acquire understanding of complainants' perspectives." "We also stressed the need to strengthen the supervisory accountability of non-commissioned officers in providing prompt support to frontline Police Constables in situations where the potential for complaints is high." SSP Lau added. KWTDIST Deputy Commander, SSP Cheung Wing-fai, who is Chairman of the New Territories South (NTS) RCPC, said an analysis of the complaint trend and research into the root causes of complaints helped provide a full picture of the overall complaint situation and assisted NTS RCPC in formulating complaint prevention and education initiatives. He emphasised that the decrease of complaints in KWTDIST was the result of a concerted effort by all district personnel. "Training days served as a main channel for district management to get comment and feedback, and to raise the awareness of officers. Both the District Commander and I personally attended training days to stress the importance of complaint prevention and integrity management. KWTDIST also organised Work Improvement Teams for some complaint prevention subjects," he said. |
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