In Pursuit of Excellence

The Hong Kong Police Force is dedicated to provide quality service that inspires confidence and respect among the community it serves. This is achieved through the establishment and strict monitoring of 'Force Values' and performance pledges for particular services.

Overall policy directives come from the Service Quality Wing, which also identifies and implements initiatives designed to create a 'culture of service' throughout the ranks. The emphasis is on total involvement with the process, whereby individuals are encouraged to contribute their own suggestions. To keep track of how personnel are responding to changes, and how the community perceives the Force, the Wing's Performance Review Branch commissioned the University of Hong Kong to conduct two independent surveys during the year — the first among staff to assess their views on new management initiatives, and the second among the public to gauge customer satisfaction with police performance.

While the results were generally encouraging, the real benefit of the surveys was to identify areas where improvements could be made — both internally and in our dealings with the community. Measures were adopted to enhance proactive communication at all levels, and to strengthen the quality of service through staff participation schemes and new scope of professional training.

Valuable feedback
Feedback from a similar survey conducted in 1999 has already been put to good use through a series of 'Living-the-Values' workshops where Force members discuss public concerns as they affect their particular areas of operation. The workshops are designed to break down communication barriers, encourage local ownership of problems, and implement solutions. Suggestions from participants are evaluated and, if accepted, taken forward by their immediate managers.

Within the Force, one of the principal issues raised was internal communication. This has prompted a 'Force Strategy on Internal Communication' that will be implemented in the coming year. The aim is to instil a positive attitude about sharing information with colleagues, to exploit and strengthen the existing communication systems, and to clearly specify the roles and responsibilities of officers as communicators. A steering committee chaired by the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Management) will monitor the implementation and progress of the Strategy.

New emphasis on management systems
As part of ongoing efforts to improve management techniques, steps have been taken to align and integrate current systems with the Government's 'Target-based Management Process'. This includes a new management framework that will be supported by a comprehensive set of performance indicators to help managers focus on improvements to critical areas.

Further management support will come through information technology development of a full-scale 'Knowledge Management' system that involves the use of networked terminals to communicate, store and share knowledge across the Force. Initial feedback from a pilot study indicates that full implementation of the system will have a major impact on the efficiency of the Force.

In the field of improvements to customer service, report rooms in 19 police stations have been refurbished to give them a friendlier ambience and similar work to another 21 stations should be completed in 2001.