CPC Series
A two-pronged approach to prevent complaints

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In the past decade, the economy of Hong Kong developed rapidly. With a better education, the public demand more democracy and liberty and are more aware of their rights. More and more people now know how to air their views through public channels. In the public's eyes, the Hong Kong Police Force is an elite disciplined organisation, which is committed to safeguarding the stability and prosperity of Hong Kong. With this in mind, they have higher expectations for the services provided by the Force.

The Complaints & Internal Investigations Branch has been working on various measures for preventing complaints against the Police in order to enhance service quality. Complaints prevention is an important agenda of the Force. We cannot rely solely on established guidelines; experience also counts. I now try to categorise the ways of preventing complaints into "external" and "internal" perspectives and share with you some real cases.

First of all, the "external" perspective refers to our professional excellence and leadership. Each member of the Force has received professional training in coping with critical incidents. He or she is therefore comparatively more capable of protecting life and property. In the event of an emergency, the public will turn to us for help and advice because they regard us as a reliable team ready to offer any assistance. To meet these constant expectations, we should keep pace with the times and have a good grip of legislative and socio-economic changes. This will go a long way towards enhancing our professionalism and help us deliver a quality service to the public.

The "external" perspective not only reinforces public confidence in the police, but also goes in tandem with the target of achieving the professional excellence advocated by the Force in recent years. With Force members applying this perspective, the public will no doubt recognise our professional excellence and have more confidence in our advice, thus minimising complaints against the Police.

Secondly, the "external" perspective for complaint prevention means we should put ourselves in people's shoes. This will help us better understand what they want and what they are concerned about. We have to bear in mind that the public, without any professional training, are prone to panic during a crisis. The public would look upon us as someone they can rely on. All these can help us gain more public support.

I hope you would put the two perspectives into practice, particularly after reading the following two real cases.

The first case was a traffic accident involving a collision of two vehicles. One of the drivers was very upset and scolded the other driver, making the latter very frightened and not knowing what to do. At this juncture, a traffic police officer arrived at the scene. He first pacified both parties and ascertained what had happened. He then analysed the case and gave the drivers his professional advice for resolving their problems. In this approach the officer fully applied the "external" perspective in giving his professional advice. A public who have faith in, and accept, our advice, will help reduce complaints against the police.

Another example was a case of objects falling from height. In this case, a teacher burst into tears when she was hit on the head by falling concrete debris while she was on her way to work. A police officer arrived at the scene, examined the victim's injuries and then immediately gave her first aid treatment. He also tried to comfort her and did not start taking a statement until she had calmed down. The police officer fully applied the internal perspective in handling this case, ascertaining what the victim needed and providing the assistance required. Members of the public are usually at a loss as what to do in an unexpected situation. We, as police officers, have to help them tide over the situation by showing our care and concern, realising their needs and then providing assistance. This approach will not only prevent complaints, but also earn us the public's gratitude.

Traffic Warden Yeung Wai-yan