The Police College held a parade today to mark the passing-out of 28 probationary inspectors and 127 recruit police constables (RPCs), with 14 RPCs being the first batch of police constables recruited through the Auxiliary Selected Appointment Programme (ASAP).
 
Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Director Zheng Yanxiong inspected the passing-out parade as the Reviewing Officer.
 
While addressing those gathered at the ceremony, Mr Zheng stressed that the Hong Kong Police Force is an important strength in safeguarding “one country, two systems”.
 
He added that the force had united as one, lived up to its trust, and bravely shouldered the important mission of safeguarding national security and maintaining social stability, especially in the face of a series of unprecedented tests in recent years.
 
He also noted that the force has made significant contributions to Hong Kong in its new stage of advancing from stability to prosperity, following the transition from chaos to order.
 
Lauding the Hong Kong Police Force as the best police force in the world, Mr Zheng said police officers are serving in a profession of honour, playing the role as guardians in protecting the country and citizens.

Apart from pointing out that he is proud of their career choice, he said he hopes the graduates will not forget this honour and encouraged them to cherish and defend such an honour in their careers.
 
As a two-year pilot programme, the ASAP provides incentives for auxiliary police officers to join as regular police officers, and at the same time they can maintain the impartiality and fairness of the current selection and training.
 
Officers nominated under the programme can join the force as RPC after a 14-week residential training and assessment.