Police officers would have their efforts recognised by the public as long as they discharged their duties and served the community with fairness, impartiality and legality, the Chairman of the Independent Police Complaints Council (IPCC), Mr Larry Kwok, said when he took the salute as Reviewing Officer at a passing-out parade on Police College's campus in Aberdeen on September 12.

The fact that Hong Kong is a very safe city with one of the lowest crime rates in the world is the result of not only citizens' law-abiding culture, but also officers' dedication, professionalism, integrity and sense of responsibility, he added.

"As society evolves, citizens' expectations of police officers' work performance and conduct continued to rise, posing a huge challenge to the Police Force and more or less also putting pressure on frontline officers," he noted.

Mr Kwok pointed out that when the graduates discharged duties, they might encounter tough situations, where citizens would make demands for various reasons, or even vent their anger on them. Therefore, he hoped the graduates would uphold the Force Values of "fairness, impartiality and compassion in all our dealings", and be patient, understanding and empathetic while enforcing the law. He believed that this would help stave off unnecessary conflicts and make their work a lot smoother.

Mr Kwok went on to say that in addition to monitoring handling and investigation of complaints against the police, another function of the IPCC is to make recommendations to the Force if police practices or procedures that might lead to complaints were identified. "This is very much in line with the Force Values of 'dedication to quality service and continuous improvement'," he said, adding that a professional and high-quality Police Force would naturally get great expectations from citizens.

On parade were 38 probationary inspectors and 209 recruit police constables.