ENG-2002 — Page 388

PUBLIC ORDER

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Civilian Staff

A civilian establishment of more than 5600 in 60 different grades is deployed throughout the Police Force, representing about 17 per cent of its total manpower. Civilian staff members play a vital role by performing a wide variety of functional duties to support police operations.

Training

All newly recruited police officers undergo basic training at the Police Training School (PTS). The training periods for recruit constables and inspectors are 27 weeks and 36 weeks, respectively. In 2002, a total of 383 police constables and 15 inspectors passed out from the PTS.

The Continuation and Promotion Division of the PTS provides development and promotion courses to in-service and newly promoted junior police officers. The division also trains newly recruited traffic wardens and provides traffic training to newly recruited inspectors and serving junior and middle ranking officers.

In 2002, the PTS continued to assist the Labour Department, the Education Department and the Social Welfare Department in running youth training programmes. The programmes are aimed at developing young people's confidence, discipline, interpersonal skills and leadership potential. During the year, a total of 1 216 teenagers received such training at the PTS.

The Training and Development Bureau, in addition to its core responsibilities of planning, designing, updating and continuous review of the force's training programmes, has placed emphasis on making learning resources available through a Knowledge Management programme via the Police Intranet.

In order to foster a lifelong learning culture within the force, a number of selected courses can be undertaken by officers using their own time with reimbursement of course fees upon successful completion. Departmental resources have also been made available for a pilot project of short attachments to private organisations and non- governmental organisations as well as other government departments to gain experience and observe best practices.

The Higher Training Division's role within the Training Wing is being revised to meet the changing demands of police work. It focuses on the developmental training needs of all officers up to Assistant Commissioner level with the aim of enhancing human resources development. To this end, a variety of courses designed to enhance management skills have been introduced. These include introductory courses for junior officers, three-week general command courses and modular courses on specific topics.

The Weapons Training Division continued to ensure that the training concepts and methodologies adopted by the force were kept in line with, and in some cases ahead of, international best practices. A new generation of interactive computer training systems was introduced during the year. These systems incorporate interactive training in the use of equipment and of various techniques in tactical situations in addition to the firearms training methods already employed. Continuation tactics training for all District personnel, using the new Tactics Training Complex, will be implemented in early 2003.