Speaking at the certificate presentation ceremony, Police College Director Cheuk Chun-yin extended a warm congratulation to the officers, including those who were among the first batch to complete e-learning packages, as well as Police College instructors and Formation trainers, who have successfully passed assessments required by the universities.

"I really appreciate your efforts in continuous learning and your endeavours to take up new challenges," Dr Cheuk told the certificate recipients.

One of the recipients, Woman Police Constable Wong Cheuk-ying, who graduated from Lingnan University, had a pleasant surprise when she met her professors again at the ceremony.

WPC Wong shared her experiences of applying psychological competency training in her work. Citing an example, she recalled: "One day when I was working in the Report Room, a woman turned up in a fit of anger, and made a complaint against another officer for not helping her with a rental dispute.

"From psychological competency training, I have learned that the outcome of police handling a case might not meet the expectations of a citizen, and sometimes this might develop into a conflict. So I tried to calm her down with empathetic listening and understanding, and then explained the police's roles in her case and the services provided by other departments, such as the hotline of the Rating and Valuation Department. After being satisfied with the services and assistance given by the police, she eventually dropped her complaint."

In another case of a woman from the Mainland arrested for breaching conditions of stay, WPC Wong said the woman was uncooperative and scared. Therefore, she explained the stance of the police in her case, and showed understanding of her situation.

Eventually, the woman realised that the police did respect her rights.

WPC Wong pointed out that it was important for her to show and apply empathy in police work so as to understand and analyse cases from different perspectives.

After learning WPC Wong's experiences, do you want to learn more about psychological competency? Psychological competency training covers eight competency areas, namely conflict management, victim psychology, interpersonal communication skills, counselling skills as a police supervisor/colleague, emotional regulation, healthy lifestyle, stress management in police work, and psychological skills in basic interviewing (suspects and autistic persons).

Officers can learn these competency areas in different training courses, including the Recruit Police Constable and Probationary Inspector (starting from the PI intake of November 2008) Foundation Training Courses, Police Constable Development Course, Sergeant and Station Sergeant Promotion and Development Courses, and Junior Command Course. Besides, officers can also learn some competency areas through e-learning and self-learning packages at the Learning Portal. Visit the "Psychological Competency Training Resource Bank" at the Learning Portal without any delay!

Dr Cheuk presents a souvenir to Prof David Phillips of Lingnan University