Police College Deputy Director looks at
police leadership training down under
Forging closer ties with the professional training institutions of overseas law enforcement agencies, and boosting international training opportunities for officers of the Force has long been an objective of the Police College. With this in mind, Police College Deputy Director Philip Sham attended a workshop entitled "Asian Policing Compared: Traditions, Practices, Capacities" which was held by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Policing and Security (CEPS) at the Australian National University, Canberra, from July 28 to 29.
Also attending the workshop were delegates from a number of Australian academic institutions, as well as police officers from Australia and the Asia-Pacific region.
At the workshop, Mr Sham presented a paper entitled "Challenges in Police Leadership Development", which introduced the current policing strategies and practices of the Force and concluded with the challenges the Force faces in police leadership development. The paper also outlined the evolution of leadership development training in the Force over the next few years.
"The paper was very well received, and all participants were supportive of the need to enhance the research capability of individual officers to prepare them for the possible challenges to police action and policing strategies from an increasingly well-informed and politicised society," said Mr Sham. "Workshop participants fully acknowledged the value of adopting an evidence-based policing approach by modern police organisations".
Mr Sham also took time out to visit the Australian Institute of Police Management (AIPM) at Manly, Sydney, early this month, where two Force officers, Chief Inspectors Kevin Ku and Kelvin Kong, were attending the Police Management Development Programme (PMDP) and a third Force member, Superintendent Peter Tse, was attending the same programme as a visiting fellow alongside senior officers from Australian police forces, the UK and FBI.
"It was my first time to visit the AIPM and I was very impressed with their investment in training in terms of resources and facilities. They have rebuilt their training campus and the new purpose-built facilities will be ready for use later this year", Mr Sham continued. "Regarding the PMDP, the participants were highly motivated and all worked very hard on their research papers covering relevant police subjects over three weeks. It was also an excellent learning opportunity for the visiting fellows who had to critique the papers within a very tight time frame. There is no doubt that the participants in the course found it extremely challenging and rewarding in a most effective learning environment."
He added: "During my two-day visit, I was very well looked after and was given five different presentations on subjects of interest, and I attended a number of training activities as an observer. The discussion with both police practitioners and academics simply reinforced the need for the Force, as a modern police force, to have leaders who are capable of constantly assessing and reassessing changes in the external and internal operating environments and our approach to policing these issues. This capability is critical to ensure that we not only adopt the right approach, but also can effectively explain to a demanding public the rationale and reasons for adopting the approach. Leadership development training clearly has a role to play in preparing our senior officers and future leaders for such challenges."
Mr Sham also discussed with the senior management of the AIPM how good learning practices could further be shared between the AIPM and Police College. The good practices learned, with greater focus on international collaboration, will be incorporated into Command Courses in the coming months, with the Senior Command Course, scheduled for November this year, serving as a pilot for revised content as well as learning delivery.
Mr
Sham discusses with AIPM staff on international training collaboration
and matters of common interest