Among members of the course were two Superintendents from the Metropolitan Police in London and the New Zealand Police, an Assistant Commissioner from the Utrecht Police in the Netherlands, a Chief Investigator from the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) and a Professor from the Chinese People's Public Security University. A Superintendent from the Australian Federal Police also joined the course as a Visiting Fellow on behalf of the Australian Institute of Police Management (AIPM).

Speaking at the command course's opening ceremony, Dr Cheuk encouraged the course members to "unlearn to learn". Later many course members stated that with this motto they were able to see things from new perspectives.

Superintendent Stephen Handley from the Commercial Crime Bureau commented: "With 25 years of police experience myself, I have to make a conscious effort to put aside my own way of doing things and adopt a more flexible attitude. When I did this and approached things with an open mind, I found I could assimilate things more easily. The course has given me a chance to realign myself with how I have been doing things and how they can be done better."

The three-week Senior Command Course was a developmental programme designed to cater for the training needs of Superintendents of the Force on the basis of the currently recognised core competencies, the Force's Strategic Directions and Action Plan, as well as the results of the latest Training Needs Analysis. The course was structured in three distinct modules. The first module mainly focussed on developing awareness of one's personality, strengths and weaknesses in interpersonal skills, as well as the techniques of public presentations and media interviews. The second module covered management and leadership issues, whereas the third one placed emphasis on professional issues pertinent to organisational operations.

In alignment with the Force's Knowledge Management Strategy, a number of senior officers were invited to share their invaluable knowledge with course members. Among these guest speakers, Assistant Commissioner (Operations) Suen Kwai-leung talked about his experience of policing the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference and the Olympic Equestrian Events; Kowloon West Regional Commander Tang How-kong spoke of his views of Strategic Leadership and Negotiations; Assistant Commissioner (Personnel) Tang Kam-moon talked about the Force Human Resources Strategic Framework, and Force Financial Controller Cheng Chan Ching-ling outlined the Force's concept and process of financial management.

"It's really a fantastic experience! Senior officers were well-prepared to discuss the challenging issues the Hong Kong Police Force is facing in the context of command and leadership," commented Superintendent Steven Richardson from the Metropolitan Police.

"I've benefitted a lot from those sessions in which experienced senior officers of the Hong Kong Police Force shared their invaluable experiences of police work, and gave an update on the relevant policing issues. All these are very valuable knowledge and experiences for me," commented ICAC Chief Investigator Kitty Lau.

Besides imparting knowledge and experience, the command course also served as an additional forum for internal communication. Commenting on this aspect, Superintendent Handley said: "On the final day of the course, we had the opportunity to engage at length with the Commissioner and two Deputy Commissioners in separate forums for a sharing of their perspectives. I appreciate very much their frankness about the issues discussed, which included the challenges the Hong Kong Police Force is facing and their expectations of us."

To give course members a better idea of police training on the Mainland, a two-day visit to the Guangdong Police College and the Guangzhou Police College was arranged. The former is a university preparing high school graduates to become police officers or legal practitioners with a variety of academic programmes. The latter is a training institute providing foundation training for new recruits of the Guangzhou Public Security Bureau.

Impressed with Mainland visit

The overseas course members were particularly impressed with the Mainland visit.

"It's quite beyond my expectations that our Mainland counterparts have made such a great improvement on the transparency of their work. It's very nice that we have had a chance to get to know the challenging issues they are dealing with," commented Superintendent Stuart Wildon from the New Zealand Police.

Superintendent Richardson and Assistant Commissioner Hendrik Bril of the Utrecht Police in the Netherlands both highly praised the Mainland trip and considered it most interesting and eye-opening. Mr Bril said the visit had given him a new impression of China and even Asia.

The international element of the command course was considered most valuable and beneficial to course members. Commenting on this on behalf of her fellow course members, Ms Lau said: "In total the course members have more than 400 years of police experience. Their cross-cultural knowledge and experience sharing was just like a 'treasure hunt' besides facilitating pollination of good management practices."

To maximise the merit of the international element, the four course members from the Australian Federal Police, Metropolitan Police, New Zealand Police and the Utrecht Police in the Netherlands shared their experiences in engaging the community at home in policing. The Management Development Programme conducted in the Auditorium at Police Headquarters was well received by more than 200 officers.

"The networks and relationships developed during the command course will definitely benefit the New Zealand Police and me personally. It's my privilege to have been invited to attend the course. I will strongly recommend it to my colleagues," said Superintendent Wildon.

Comparing the command course with the Leadership and Management Development Programmes run by the AIPM, Superintendent Toni Christmas noticed that the two had many similarities as both focussed on leadership and executive development issues. However, she recognised that the command course was delivered in a more practical way and had a well-balanced coverage of professional and leadership issues which had already been thoroughly examined from both academic and practical perspectives. In short, it was a mix of theories and practicalities.

Throughout the command course, members from overseas were greatly impressed by the Force and its officers. "The Hong Kong Police Force is hierarchical and highly disciplined. Officers assiduously devote themselves to their duties and are keen on promotion, which is certainly a very good motivation factor," said Superintendent Wildon, whose view was echoed by Superintendent Richardson.

"It's been a very challenging and thought-provoking experience which I haven't expected of before joining the course. I'm so impressed by the professionalism of the presenters as well as the enthusiasm of the directing staff," Assistant Commissioner Bril said.

The schedule of the command courses for 2009/2010 has been published and calling for nominations for the courses will be announced via the Training Management System. For more details of the courses, please contact Police College Superintendent of Management Learning Josephine Lau at sp-ml@police.gov.hk.

The overseas police officers attending a Leadership Exercise during a visit to the Mainland