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Following is a question by the Hon Emily Lau and a written reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr Lai Tung-kwok, in the Legislative Council today (December 9):
Question:
On May 2 this year, the Police arrested an autistic man with moderate intellectual disabilities and charged him with manslaughter, but subsequently quashed the indictment against the man because evidence in support of an alibi had been found. The family members of the man reproached the Police for handling the case improperly, including taking the first statement from the said mentally incapacitated person (MIP) in the absence of his family members or guardian, and asking leading questions that caused him to make a statement against himself. Regarding the handling of cases involving MIPs by the Police, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
(1) whether the Police have, since the occurrence of the aforesaid case, provided training for police officers of all ranks to enable them to deepen their knowledge of autism and grasp the skills in communicating with autistic persons, especially the skills in taking statements from those people as well as in detaining and imprisoning them; if training has been provided, of the details, and whether such training is provided on a regular basis or as a one-off arrangement; if no training has been provided, whether the Police will conduct it expeditiously and incorporate the relevant training contents into the regular training programmes; and
(2) how the authorities ensure that police officers will not handle cases involving MIPs in the aforesaid manner again?
Reply:
President,
(1) and (2) As always, the Police strive to enhance police officers' professional sensitivity and capability in handling mentally incapacitated persons (MIPs). In various training courses (including Probationary Inspector Course, Recruit Police Constable Training Course, Police Constable Development Course, Sergeant and Station Sergeant Promotion Course, Standard Criminal Investigation Course and Advanced Criminal Investigation Course), there are sessions teaching police officers on the handling of MIPs in their discharge of duties, the proper procedures for taking statements from MIPs, and points to be aware of in the detention of persons with special needs, etc..
Apart from the above, the Police have released a training day package with "Handling Mentally Disordered Persons" as its theme and an e-learning package in collaboration with Police Clinical Psychologists entitled "Criminal Psychology" with a view to enhancing police officers' knowledge on such issues and augmenting their professionalism in their discharge of duties. The Police are planning to launch a new training day package called "Understanding and Handling Mentally Incapacitated Persons" in 2016-17 for wider promotion among members of the Force and enhancement of their awareness and professional capability.
Alongside the strengthening of relevant training, the Police also attach importance to multi-lateral co-operation, and there has been collaboration with various government departments and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) for the provision of such training to front-line officers. For example, experts from the Department of Health share with police officers of different ranks their knowledge of and experience in handling persons (particularly the elderly) with dementia. In addition, the Police, in conjunction with NGOs, invite clinical psychologists and social workers to hold seminars for sergeants and station sergeants who are under promotion training, sharing with them how to identify persons with autism and hyperactivity disorder, as well as the points to be aware of when having contact or communication with them.
The Police are aware of the community concern over the issue mentioned in the question, and agree that, in handling MIPs, it is paramount that their rights should be safeguarded in a professional manner. To this end, the Police have, subsequent to the incident, formed a working group led by the Assistant Commissioner of Police (Support). In collaboration with relevant government departments and experts in its work, the working group aims to re-examine the policies for handling cases involving MIPs and the guidelines of investigation, explore the means to enhance and optimise investigation work, and study the ways to further augment front-line officers' training in handling relevant tasks.
A number of group meetings have been held in the past few months. One of the work priorities is to give consideration to the more effective adoption of multi-agency co-operation, which includes the need to seek professional assistance in the handling of MIPs. Furthermore, as far as training is concerned, given that the current training programmes for front-line officers on the handling of MIPs are mainly conducted by instructors of the Police, the working group will consider stepping up collaboration with professionals of other departments as well as other stakeholders in the realm of training. In addition, the working group will review whether the current mode of training, mainly in the form of classroom instruction, is the most effective, including the need to strengthen other modes of training like role-playing and field training, so that front-line police officers will have a better grasp of the skills in handling cases involving MIPs.
Ends/Wednesday, December 9, 2015
Issued at HKT 16:03
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