"It is in the right direction for management to initiate a series of improvements and it will need more time to see whether these measures are effective," he said. The major problem area was middle management's unwillingness to pass the views of the lower ranks to the top and that sometimes it failed to convey the exact message from the top to ranks, causing misunderstandings among junior officers.

He said formation visits by the Senior Directorate were good but steps should be taken to encourage junior officers to offer different views without reservation.

Local Inspectors' Association Chairman Liu Kit-ming agreed management had done a lot with top-down and horizontal communication which was now swift and effective.

"However, communication upwards is still a problem because of some middle management who tend not to pass the negative views of junior officers to Senior Management," he said.

"Such an attitude has made junior officers lose confidence in speaking out."

Superintendents' Association Chairman Larry Lung Hung-cheuk said: "To make communication more effective, more time should be given for formation heads to solicit and consolidate views from junior officers for submission to Police Headquarters. And to make the consultation process more transparent, Senior Management should explain the reasons for not adopting a particular view."

Overseas Inspectors' Association Deputy Chairman Francis Carroll said some Staff Relations officers were making a good effort to liaise with staff. "But there seems to be apprehension to speak openly which is something that is changing gradually. It is unfortunate some staff resort to the media with complaints and views because they feel ucomfortable communicating through Force channels.

"Also, the credability of the Force morale system could be better. It seems it is not taken sufficiently seriously by some commanders of various levels who are not prepared to speak openly and subsequently opinions and morale are not truly reflected."

Mr Carroll said a website to lodge questions and have Senior Management file responses was also desirable.



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