Benefits of psychological support for police during protests questioned

Do police officers really need emotional support when handling mass protests? That's the question raised by lawmakers - and even people who have received the treatment - after the force gave the Legislative Council details of how it supported officers mentally.

The agenda for a Legco security panel meeting today revealed that in the year prior to last year's Occupy protests, 1,300 officers took part in crowd-control training called "T.A.K.E. Model - Psychological Preparation for Large-scale Public Order Events".

The scheme, which was later made into a video and uploaded to the police intranet, taught officers about "caring for one's body and mind during operations, appreciating meaning in work, understanding crowd psychology and emotion regulation".

Another emotional-fitness training scheme, piloted in 2010, went into full swing last year to help boost positive emotions among police officers.

During the 79-day Occupy protests, officers were cheered with messages of encouragement on their mobile phones and received on-site visits from the force's clinical psychologists.

Since Occupy ended, a total of 165 positivity workshops, themed "Shoulder the Challenge, Stride Towards 2015", have been attended by more than 7,000 officers.