The Service Quality Award Scheme was introduced in 2003 to promote and reinforce a customer-focused culture of quality service in all police formations and to recognise commitment to, and promotion of, good practices in the workplace.

Assistant Commissioner (Service Quality) Charles Wong Doon-yee reiterated that the aim of this year's Award was to impress on all staff the importance of providing the best possible quality of service to customers. To give Formations greater flexibility to perfect their entries, no theme has been set for this year's Award.

Mr Wong is confident of seeing high quality entries this year. He recalled that the standard of entries for the 2004/05 Award was exceptionally high, demonstrating Force members' good teamwork and the benefits of working together.

"I'm sure all participants in the previous years have learned a great deal during the process and experienced a great sense of achievement, even though some of them did not win any prize," he said.

Mr Wong then continued: "As the quality of the entry projects was so high, it was a tough job, having to pare the entries down to leave only the finalists. It was apparent that a great deal of effort and resources had been put into the entries for this Award. That is why this year we have budgeted to reimburse each entry that makes it to the stage II adjudication process, up to $2,000 for expenses incurred."

Mr Wong pointed out that the Force has achieved excellent results in the past. "By continuing to use different methods to motivate staff, we would continue to reinforce a customer-focused culture of service quality in all formations. We are all winners if our officers pull their strengths together to serve the community with care," he stressed.

To achieve this, it is preferable for Formations to cover the following areas for their entries: E-Service, Front-line/Counter Service, Specialised Service, Internal Service and Innovative Use of Technology. However, entries covering other areas are also welcome.

No particular area will be favoured, and each submission will be judged on its own merits. The award competition will be conducted in three stages. In stage I, participating teams should submit a description of not more than 2,000 words in either English or Chinese, providing information on their projects and initiatives in accordance with the assessment criteria, along with examples of the results achieved.

In stage II, the teams that have passed the preliminary assessment at stage I will be invited to nominate three officers (including at least one JPO) to give a verbal presentation in either English or Chinese of not more than 15 minutes. After this, the adjudicating panel may ask the teams to elaborate on parts of their presentation for up to 10 minutes.

The prize ceremony will form stage III, where the top three short-listed units will give a final presentation to compete for the championship. The results will be decided by the votes of all the SDG, MFCs and Formation representatives present.

A total of eight awards will be given. The successful teams will receive a trophy and a certificate signed by the Commissioner. The champion, 1st runner-up and 2nd runner-up will receive cash awards "in-kind", with which the prize-winning teams can purchase equipment, fittings, furniture, or appliances to the value of $5,000, $4,000 and $3,000 respectively. In addition, an entry will be made on the PICS record of all award winners.