Series on New Era for Complaint Handling (1)
CAPO strives to adapt to changes
Complaints Against Police Office (CAPO) is charged with the responsibility of handling and investigating all complaint against members of the Force. Committed to enhancing public confidence in the complaints process and in the Force as a whole, CAPO remains responsive to changes and has undergone transformation in a new era.
CAPO was first set up in 1974, comprising police officers handling and investigating impartially complaints against Force members. Investigations are monitored and reviewed by an advisory body consisting of respected members of the community to ensure that complaints are dealt with fairly.
The Independent Police Complaints Council (IPCC) Ordinance (Cap. 604) was enacted in July 2008 and came into operation on June 1, 2009, providing a statutory framework for both IPCC and CAPO to work within a two-tier police complaints system. In the new era of complaint handling, CAPO continues giving full support to IPCC and remains committed to improving the police complaints system and enhancing its credibility and transparency.
Statutory duties
The IPCC Ordinance imposes numerous statutory duties on the Commissioner of Police, and CAPO must ensure that the Force discharges the duties in full. For example, the Commissioner is required to provide a full explanation and justification in support of his categorisation of each and every complaint. CAPO must examine all new cases in order to determine whether a complaint is deemed "reportable" or "notifiable" under the IPCC Ordinance.
CAPO has made a great deal of effort to ensure that both CAPO and formation personnel have the necessary guidance and training for anchoring compliance with the IPCC Ordinance. In preparation for enactment of the Ordinance, CAPO mounted awareness campaigns within the Force and completed a Force-wide special training programme for a total of 2 800 officers, from Sergeant to Chief Inspector. CAPO intensified its efforts in anchoring compliance by launching a publicity campaign, with officers from CAPO Regional Offices conducting outreach visits to their client Formations to deliver presentations on "Compliance with the IPCC Ordinance". This message was reinforced through online publications such as "Complaints Flash", "Tips for Smart Cops" and "Tips for Complaints Investigator". As a result, non-compliance cases have been kept to a minimum, and a higher level of awareness of the provisions of the IPCC Ordinance has been observed.
Case investigation
The new requirements arising from enforcement of the IPCC Ordinance, coupled with the sharp increase in workload, as well as increased demands from various stakeholders within the system, have inevitably put an enormous strain on CAPO.
Nonetheless, CAPO strives to ensure that investigations of complaints are fair and just, and that every complaint is dealt with properly and impartially. As a result of the comprehensive and thorough investigations carried out by CAPO as well as the heightened awareness achieved by complaint prevention campaigns, the number of allegations classified as "No Fault" increased from 8.8 per cent in 2008 to 26.1 per cent in 2010.
Engaging IPCC
CAPO has adopted a value-based strategic engagement approach that focuses on partnering with stakeholders in order to develop a pragmatic and accountable system.
On case investigation, CAPO adopts a three-tier system in communicating with IPCC to speed up processing of unresolved cases. At the first level, CAPO and the IPCC Secretariat convene working-level meetings on a need basis to sort out differences on outstanding cases. The second-level meeting, with participation of IPCC Members, will be convened if CAPO and the secretariat failed to come to an agreement. If attempts to resolve the case were unsuccessful, the outstanding cases will be brought to the Joint IPCC/CAPO meeting for decision. Such mechanism has been very fruitful in resolving a substantial number of cases at working-level meetings.
To enhance mutual understanding between frontline officers and IPCC Members, CAPO has developed a series of visit programme for IPCC Members to meet the officers. Each visit was designed with a thematic illustration on police work together with an open forum for direct dialogues between IPCC Members and frontline officers.
In 2010 and 2011, IPCC Members visited all Regions and met with staff associations and Policy Wings. During the visits, they were briefed on different policing issues, including "Policing of Late Night Violence", "Handling Dispute Cases" and "Nature of Traffic Duty". The most recent visit was held on November 8 this year when IPCC Members called at Tsim Sha Tsui Police Station for a briefing on "Upgraded Detention Facilities" and "NEC Initiatives" before having a direct dialogue with officers from Kowloon West Region.
The IPCC Ordinance has further enhanced IPCC's independence in monitoring the handling and investigation of complaints against police and the credibility of the current two-tier complaint system. The role of the Force and CAPO is pivotal to ensuring the efficient and effective functioning of the system. CAPO, as a key player in the system, works in partnership with IPCC and endeavours to demonstrate the independence, accountability and integrity of the system in a bid to enhance public confidence in the complaints process and in the Force as a whole.
IPCC
Chairman,
Mr Jat Sew-tong, meets with frontline officers from Kowloon
West Region to understand better their daily chores and problems