A 'lenient' culture versus a 'judgemental' culture
The three Police attachments to Non Governmental Organisation Training Programmes (NGO courses), jointly organised by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the Training Development Bureau, were concluded on March 4. These initial trials, which spanned the period May 2002 to March 2003, had a most positive influence on the 72 trainees involved.
All the participating social workers and trainees conceded that the programme provided a platform for them to: (a) Empathise with each other's professional code of conduct; (b) Explore the different ways of achieving a common goal - preventing marginal youths from abusing psychotropic drugs and helping them to lead a meaningful life; and (c) Know how each others' strengths and weaknesses can be made complementary in future collaboration.
The First Group's Experience
During the three and half days' attachment, the social workers at the Young Woman's Christian Association Lok Wah Integrated Social Service Centre introduced them to two of their clients Sandy and Teddy. When they shifted their identity from being 'rigid' policemen and policewomen, to volunteers working along with social workers, they quickly won Teddy's heart and mind. They agreed that Police officers had often adopted a 'judgemental' culture when dealing with marginal youths. On the other hand, social workers appeared to be more understanding of their misbehaviour and have a higher degree of tolerance - a 'lenient' culture.
The Second Group's Experience
Social workers mainly used leisure activities as part of their long-term approach to start working relationships with their clients (marginal youths). This could be taken as a soft approach.
Very often young people come into contact with Police officers after they have committed offences. At that stage Police usually play an authoritative role to stop them from committing offences. This could be seen as the hard approach.
The group quoted a fictitious story illustrating the different roles and functions that social worker and Police play in a young boy's life. Stewart (10 years old) was the only child in a single parent family. He had difficulty in learning so his mum sought help from social workers in a nearby NGO. Emily (a social worker) started seeing Stewart hoping to build a trusting relationship with him. But Stewart committed shop theft and was eventually under the guidance of John (a police officer from the Juvenile Protection Section) for two years. Stewart respected John because he had always wanted to have a father-like figure to look up to. After the two years were up, John stopped paying attention to Stewart but Emily still cared for his welfare. Eventually Emily helped Stewart to find a job when he dropped out from school at the age of 16.
A Previous Trainee Reflects
A Tuen Mun Division uniformed branch officer, Police Constable Mr Ken Chan, attended the NGO course in May 2002, hoping to equip himself with the knowledge and skills needed to handle youth gangs on his beat. He had been assigned to patrol the Tin King and Leung King Estates since the beginning of 2002.
Being an enthusiastic officer he wanted to do something for the community. He also realised that he was not capable of communicating with the contemporary marginal youths in those two housing estates. He had noticed one group gathering in the playground of Tin King Estate at about 4 pm every day talking and doing nothing productive.
From his own Police experience, he concluded that they would end up as gangsters in Tuen Mun. Before the NGO course, he approached them, checked their EPONICS and told them to go home.
However, the training programme, lectures, seminars and time to reflect, gave him a new insight into the problem of juvenile delinquency.
He also admired how social workers interacted with their clients, with a view to establishing working relationships with them. In mid June, after the course, he returned to his beat and wanted to use his newly acquired skills. Ken re-approached that particular '4 pm' group one afternoon. Instead of demanding to check their ID cards, he started chatting with them, asking why they did not stay at home but hung around in the sitting out area. At first no one bothered to reply.
Gradually, as they saw him more often, the group began to accept Ken as a very nice big brother wearing Police uniform. He told them not to throw cigarette ends on the floor and persuaded them, gently, to join activities in a nearby youth centre. Ken did not know whether they took his advice or not. He only knew that those boys had stopped throwing cigarette ends when he saw them again in July 2002. 
Social workers debrief Sandy, Teddy and the Police team after a visit to Yau Ma Tei street sleepers