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"BEING on the frontline, Enforcement and Control Division officers have been the prime target for complaints," said Kwan Yam-wah, Acting Superintendent HQ T HKI. "So a series of measures are underway to help remedy the situation, including the setting up of a 16-member Work Improve-Improvement Team (WIT) comprised of officers from Headquarters Division, Accident Investigation Division as well as Enforcement and Control Division." |
 Acting Superintendent Kwan Yam-wah reminding his officers to be more tolerant when dealing with traffic offenders and bad drivers |
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One of the suggestions coming out of the WIT is for officers patrolling in pairs to observe one another's performance when dealing directly with road and traffic violators with a view to discussing areas of self-improvement-a practise further strengthened in regular workshops where officers can share experiences in a bid to learn from each other. Pertinent cartoons and slogans are also popping up on office walls and bulletin boards as a constant reminder for traffic officers to behave professionally when dealing with members of the public. And under an award system, officers receiving no complaints for six consecutive months are nominated for commendation. "With regard to the Accident Investigation Division, most complaints were about insufficient information given by officers to those involved in traffic accidents," said Mr Kwan. "Consequently, the WIT has produced small data cards that contain helpful tips (such as the correct way to report vehicular accidents to insurance companies, mutual agreement on compensation, etc.) that can be handed out to motorists by the first police officers arriving at an accident scene." Refinements are being made in the Accident Investigation Division report room as well, with the prime changes being an overall improvement in how officers deal directly with members of the public. To this end, stickers reminding officers to be polite at all times are affixed to the telephones, while report room personnel take turns in a role-playing exercise before they take up the post of duty officer that sees them taking the part of a member of the public. "This way officers can experience for themselves the performance of their colleagues from the viewpoint of a member of the public-and make suggestions for improvements," said Acting Superintendent Kwan. Meanwhile, by in invitation, Force clinical psychologist Dr Lau Kam-lun has organised a series of seminars to teach traffic officers the value of remaining calm in volatile situations, and how to avoid and/or manage conflict with members of the public. "Thanks to the concerted efforts of all officers, these measures have been effective in reducing the number of complaints for September," said Mr Kwan, encouraging his colleagues to continue to suggest new initiatives and to provide guidance and pass on what they've learned at the seminars to their colleagues in order to minimise complaints. | |
 Traffic officers at seminar organised by Dr Lau Kam-lun (seated second from right) emphasising the value of remaining calm in volatile situations |
"This is a continuing long-term strategy," said Mr Kwan, adding that these efforts are fully supported by SSP T HKI, Leung King-hang. Concludes Work Improvement Team member, Superintendent of Accident Investigation Division, Ho Ming-sun: "It is a difficult task to change the mentality of officers overnight. What we are really doing is trying to change the culture. So co-operation among officers and support from management is essential in making this drive a success." |
Police Constable Wan Chi-wa, M.O. Unit, CRB | |
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ONE of the stars of the Criminal Records
Bureau is computer wizard Wan Chi-wa, a police constable attached to its Modus Operandi
Unit. From his disk cluttered desk in a high-tech corner of the M.O. Unit, PC Wan is quietly,
methodically and happily helping to bring the Criminal Records Bureau into the
technological age.
How happy is PC Wan? Well put it this way, there was a time when he spent a good proportion of his off duty hours in the Golden Centre in Sham Shui Po sifting through the latest computer manuals and checking out fresh software from Japan and the Silicon Valley. |
 In his element. PC Wan displays a programme he created for the CRB Enquiry Unit |
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"When I was still attached to Marine Headquarters in the early'90s," recalled PC Wan, who took computer programming night courses at Hong Kong University during the time, "I was basically working 9 to 5, and using a typewriter-which was a bit frustrating, because I knew a lot of the work could have been done more quickly and efficiently with a computer. I'm happy working in CRB because here I've been given the opportunity to develop and use my computer programming skills." Indeed, recruited because of his competence into CRB last year from the Anti- Illegal Immigration Control Centre (AIICC), PC Wan has been tasked to work on developing stand-alone electronic data systems largely to replace the Bureau's old card indexes. "Probably the most important project that he has done for CRB is the computerisation of the Identifiable Stolen and Missing Property indexes which CRB holds centrally for the Force (and which will be moved onto the FICS system)," said CIP, Support, CRB, Ted Aitken-Davies. But Wa-jai's work output hasn't also created indexes for the Case File Registry and our Prisoners' Report Unit (which is data relating to police reports for long-term prisoners' reviews, parole boards and so on; and an Important Transactions Analysis Programme for EPONICS (Enhanced Police Operational Nominal Index Computer System), and has just finished another major project-a Crime Information index." This Crime Information Index includes a diversity of data on complaints and crimes from a variety of sources (crime information forms, letters to PO NOX 999, referrals from Government departments including the ICAC, and so forth), and helps cut down on investigations conducted by the Force formations by identifying duplicate reports and crank letter writers. The Criminal Records Bureau, as its name implies, is fertile ground for a computer programmer who's not afraid of challenges. Among its many functions the CRB runs the Modus Operandi system, maintains an index of unidentified dead bodies, deeps records of vehicles reported missing and stolen, maintains all Warrants of Arrest (excluding Traffic cases) for the Force, and keeps an index of completed case files, which today run into the millions. Also attached to the CRB are Force artists who manage the Identi-Kit system, maintain the mugshot albums (which are in the process of being computerised), and create sketches of stolen property. The CRB Enquiry Unit, mans a 24-hour hotline for data queries from police and other Government departments. Some of PC Wan's computer programmes facilitating this material retrieval have been installed in the Unit's hardware. PC Wan, who has been in the Force for 16 years, is a major user of the Enhanced Police Operational Nominal Index Computer System (EPONICS), and has done a lot of work with the Major Incident Investigation and Disaster Support System (MIIDSS) Team. For example, while investigating a robbery case, MIIDSS team officers may be interested in all the people that CRB have on record with a robbery conviction who live in a particular housing estate and in a specific police division. This sort of data is then extracted and provides information for an investigation. "So, you have to know what kind of information is in the system-and the best way to get it out," said CIP Aitken-Davies. "The sort of work PC Wan would do in this instance would be to build up a search query. Wa-jai is one of six powerusers in CRB who can go 'under the hood' into the system and search not only the database, but also the EPONICS transaction log. He is exceptionally good at it." To which PC Wan just smiles and shrugs: "I know a lot of police officers who are quite competent with computers, but are not required to use their skills in their day- to day job descriptions. I'm very glad CRB allows me to make use of and develop my computer skills." | |
