Passing-out ceremony for 200+ auxiliary police officers

The Auxiliary Police Headquarters hosts a passing-out ceremony for a new batch of graduates.

Many newly minted officers hail from professional sectors.

A total of 204 new auxiliary police officers attended their passing-out parade at the Auxiliary Police Headquarters in Kowloon Bay.

Secretary for Security Chris Tang was the reviewing officer.

Among the graduates is 33-year-old practising barrister Michelle.

Auxiliary Police Officer MICHELLE YAU: "Having the law background I think it would assist in both occupations because somehow it would help me to have more communication skills to different levels of people in the community."

Auxiliary police officers are responsible for crowd management and also assist in handling emergency cases.

Another graduate Jason is a government statistician and a recipient of the Silver Whistle Award. In his regular job, he uses big data to help government departments formulate policies and make decisions.

Auxiliary Police Officer JASON NG: "I learned a lot from them, for example how to correctly use weapons to help civilians or in danger, how to use guns in a proper way. Stuff like that -- that I could never imagine myself learning before. Also, I made a lot of friendships here."

Auxiliary police officers must complete 370 hours of training in firearms, tactics, law and police practices. And once they officially become an auxiliary police officer, their starting pay is 115 dollars per hour.

The Hong Kong Auxiliary Police Force boast more than 110 years of history.

Apart from lawyers and civil servants, teachers and financial services-related workers are among those who joined the auxiliary ranks this year.