More Junior Police Officers gain overseas exposures
With the arrangement of Police College, a delegation of six Police Constables, led by Chief Inspector (CIP) Dave Fremaux of Regional Crime Unit Hong Kong Island and Senior Inspector Ng Chung-wai of Narcotics Bureau, visited Vancouver Police Department (VPD) for one week early December last year. The officers, besides observing other aspects of police work, spent attachments to VPD's vice squad, homicide squad, vehicle patrol team and the beat patrol team for the city's Downtown Eastside, one of the slum areas in Canada.
Speaking of the visit after returning to Hong Kong, CIP Fremaux said: "It was a great experience for all of us. We spent most of our time out on patrol with the VPD and it was interesting to see that, whilst many of the challenges facing the VPD are similar to those facing the Force, the way they operate often differs greatly from how we do things in Hong Kong.
"For example, in dealing with street prostitution, the VPD targets the person who does the soliciting, not the sex worker, who is considered to be a victim. After being arrested for soliciting an undercover police officer, the "John", as he is known, is then processed on the street, which takes about 20 minutes, and then released with a ticket ordering him to appear in court a couple of weeks later. By not taking a cautioned statement from the "John" or having to take him back to a police station, a huge amount of time and paperwork is saved."
Another member of the delegation to VPD, Woman Police Constable Chong Ching-han, said: "Although the trip was pretty tight, we all really enjoyed it and certainly learned a lot that we can apply to our day-to-day jobs. It was great to see how another police department operates and we're all really grateful to the Force and the VPD for giving us this great chance."
The delegation members also took time out to meet retired Chief Superintendent Ian Tyzzer and other members of the Hong Kong Police Old Comrades' Association (Canada), which is based in Vancouver. Mr Tyzzer and his association members like to meet visiting Force members because this would keep them updated on the developments of the Force. The association can be contacted on mityzz@telus.net.
Besides VPD, Police College also arranged study visits to Victoria Police, Australia, in August last year and will arrange another one to New Zealand Police in February. The purposes of the overseas duty visits are to broaden officers' horizons and boost their leadership qualities as well as command and management skills.
The
delegation
meets the Chief Constable of Vancouver Police Department, Mr
Jim Chu (centre)