Deputy police chief says force will strive to keep Dubai crime-free

Dubai: The prime challenge facing the Dubai police force is not organised crime, nor is it the smuggling of narcotics or money laundering.

Surprisingly, it is the effort to maintain the standard of services the police offer and to keep pace with the rate of growth in the emirate, according to Major General Khamis Mattar Al Mazeina, Deputy Chief of Dubai Police.

When asked in an interview with Gulf News about what concerns him more than anything else regarding the performance of his force, Maj Gen Al Mazeina said: "It is how to maintain the police department's pioneering position among other government departments in the race for excellence in Dubai."

"Dubai police was awarded the Dubai Government Excellence Award this year, but the real test is how to continuously improve public satisfaction and enhance the efficiency of the force to meet the changing requirements of residents and visitors," he explained.

Al Mazeina believes Dubai is and will remain to be one of the safest cities in its category in the world.

"Comparatively speaking, Dubai has a low crime rate and the experience gained by the police gives every policeman the confidence and the support to solve most complicated crimes in competitive time frames," he said.

"Dubai Police realised the challenges of maintaining safety and security when visitors from all over the world began coming to the UAE. Over the past 50 years, the police worked to meet the requirements of fighting all kinds of crimes and will keep doing so."

Maj Gen Al Mazeina said the specialised anti-crime units like the tourism and financial crimes units are doing well in combating crimes in those areas. The development of these units is being done according to set plans and the needs of the time.

"We have no problems with this issue because we receive tremendous support from His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. My main concern is what kind of image the policeman or woman in the street and in different police departments project about Dubai when they provide services to the public," he stressed.

The 60-minute interview at Al Mazeina's office, overlooking the ever-busy runway at Dubai International Airport, was interrupted twice by calls from police officers investigating complaints.

The first call was about a resident who complained he had been abused and insulted by another resident over the phone. The second was a complaint about the shortage of traffic police personnel on the Arabian Ranches roundabout on Emirates Road to facilitate traffic flow.

After giving instructions to handle the two complaints, Al Mazeina told Gulf News: "My biggest worry is to see Dubai Police fail in doing its job to protect the safety and security of people."

"We cannot tolerate failure. We have to investigate every complaint we receive and handle it properly. Insulting someone over the phone, for instance is not a silly offence that we don't care about. It is a crime and we have to investigate it properly. Dubai must remain a safe place for all residents to enjoy their lives here, regardless of their ethnic, cultural and religious backgrounds. They are our guests here, regardless of how long they stay in Dubai. Our laws are applied equally to everyone in Dubai."

Following is the interview:

Gulf News: Dubai is growing at an unprecedented pace compared with other cities around the world. New towns are being built and the "Pearl of the Gulf" has become a robust hub for different types of businesses. Do you believe Dubai Police would be able to meet the security challenges in the coming years?

Khamis Mattar Al Mazeina: Dubai Police has been entrusted with safeguarding the development and the achievements of the United Arab Emirates and of Dubai in particular.

We have long and short term plans to cope with this requirement. We make sure that we have the science and the applications to fight all kinds of crimes.

At this stage of development of the Dubai Police, we believe the force is up to standard and the equipment it has is up to date. The police regularly acquire the latest technologies available to fight crimes.

We largely depend on technology for two reasons: first, to ensure accuracy and swiftness in investigations and to reduce dependency on manpower. Dubai is based on free movement of commodities and people.

Free trade is the backbone of the economy in Dubai and the life line of its prosperity. The police have to make sure that businesses and people are secured in their lives and properties.

The recent real estate boom and the influx of real estate investors from all over the world, poses specific challenges, which we are ready to face. This includes the expansion of our physical presence in the new communities.

In order to achieve the new objectives, Dubai Police have introduced plans to expand our physical presence to cover the new areas.

Apart from the main headquarters, the police currently have 11 district stations in which 15,000 members of personnel are working. The number of these stations will be doubled in the next five years and the number of members will be increased as well, but we will mainly depend on modern technology of surveillance, including cameras and radars, which we call the soft presence of the police force.

Towers and residential buildings in the new districts and cities are to be monitored around the clock and operation rooms are being established to assess data collected by a comprehensive surveillance system to cover the whole emirate.

Do you mean that security measures in modern areas of Dubai will be different from the old ones?

Not at all. We are trying to maximise our efficiency by using and encouraging developers to use modern technology for surveillance.

Using such technology will allow them to better manage their project and help the police to secure the safety of their residents. In addition, we enhance our relations with local communities by involving residents in police programmes.

Special emphasis has been placed on learning the languages of different expatriate communities. We are conducting language classes in Chinese, German and Italian in addition to English and Russian languages classes.

We want to be closer to people from different communities. The image of a Dubai policeman should remain friendly but firm, the one who enforces the law regardless of the nationality or the religion of the member of the public.

The tourism industry has been growing sharply in the past ten years and is expected to continue to grow with the opening of Al Maktoum International Airport. Many people are finding some links between opening up to tourism and the appearance of new types of crimes. Can you explain the strategy of the Dubai police in ensuring security while the country maintains an open sky and open door policy?

It is natural to see criminal elements trying to take advantage of the openness of Dubai by either committing crimes against local residents or trying to cheat tourists and take advantage of loopholes in the system.

We have come across unscrupulous agents who took advantage of the ignorance of tourists. Cheating is growing in the tourism industry and there are people who advertise big about programmes they cannot fulfil and when their victims come to Dubai they don't receive the services they had been promised.

Through its special tourism unit, Dubai Police is currently expanding its scope to handle unscrupulous tourist operators and agencies that are found cheating people. The police are not going to allow anyone to harm Dubai's image.

We are not going to impose restrictions on the movement of tourists into the country, but we will make sure that tourist groups are genuine and are not deceived by their tour operators.

A good image cannot be built just with money, it requires hard work from everyone involved in the industry and we are committed to ensure that the tourism environment in the UAE will be free of malpractices.

Some people are suspicious of the boom in foreign investment in Dubai. They say foreign capital is nothing but proceeds from money laundering. They believe that soon after these investments become clean, the investments will be taken elsewhere. What do you think of Dubai becoming a hub for money laundering?

This is not true simply because we have developed the expertise to fight money laundering. Dubai Police has the best anti money laundering unit in the region and one of the best in the world.

People who are suspicious of the influx of foreign investments into Dubai do not believe that the success Dubai has achieved and the trust it has gained have made it one of the best locations for investment.

We are ready to investigate any case and we do. We have cases of money laundering that have been referred to the court and we have gained international recognition for fighting financial crimes.

We have bankers, accountants and law experts working in the unit. What distinguishes us from other countries in the region is that people have total freedom of importing and repatriating their assets whenever they want.

This does not mean that law enforcement authorities are not vigilant about every transaction in the country. I advice those who talk about money laundering in Dubai to come up with evidence or even a small tip-off about illegal money transactions, and let them see what we do.

Isn't it strange that you did not mention traffic problems in Dubai as a worry for the police force? Don't you see Dubai Police directly responsible, along with other departments in the emirates, to solve the traffic problem for residents and visitors of Dubai?

Look, let us admit that traffic has eased in the past three months. We are working closely with the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA). The new roads and bridges that opened in the past few months have helped in reducing traffic jams on the roads in Dubai.

I admit also that part of the problem lies with the police. The police have to enforce good and responsible driving, which will help reduce traffic jams and minimise road accidents.

The undercover police patrols that are equipped with radars and cameras are doing fine and the impact of this project will be felt soon. We have no choice but to take errant drivers off the roads to encourage responsible driving in Dubai.

Toll gates have failed to solve traffic problems. They have become a financial burden rather than a solution. The toll gate on Al Maktoum Bridge will isolate part of the city and leave residents on Al Maktoum Road without a toll free alternative. Don't you see that Dubai is becoming the city of rich people and middle income people cannot live in the city anymore?

Toll fees are a tool to divert traffic from more congested areas to areas with less traffic. I think the toll project will have a positive impact on traffic in Dubai. It is a highly sophisticated system that has no disadvantage on traffic.

Toll gates in other countries still requires drivers to slow down and in some cases to pay with coins, while it charges drivers here in Dubai at their full speed.

I don't think toll fees are a financial burden because keeping a car is still very cheap compared with other countries. We are still able to fill a fuel tank at a fraction of the cost in other countries. The registration fee is also very low compared with a country like Singapore.

Do you think that owning a car in Dubai one day will be as difficult as owning a car in Singapore?

I don't think so and I hope it is not. I think people in Dubai can buy as many cars as they want to at about a tenth of the cost of a car in Singapore.

Here people can run a car day and night as compared with the restrictions on driving a car at night on the island of Singapore. I am sure Dubai residents do appreciate the ease of maintaining a car and enjoying their lives here in the UAE.

Tackling tourism, financial scams

- Specialised anti-crime units such as the tourism and financial crimes units are doing well in combating crimes in those areas. The development of these units is being done according to set plans and the needs of the time.

-The police regularly acquire the latest technologies available to fight crimes. The police depend on technology for two reasons: first, to ensure accuracy and swiftness in investigations and secondly, to reduce dependency on manpower.

- Apart from the main headquarters, the police currently have 11 district stations with 15,000 members of personnel. The number of these stations will double in the next five years and the number of members will be increased as well, but the police will mainly depend on modern technology of surveillance including cameras and radars.

- Special emphasis has been placed on learning languages of different expatriate communities. The latest in this regard are language classes in Chinese, German and Italian, in addition to English and Russian language classes.

He said the police want to be closer to people from different communities. The image of a Dubai policeman should remain friendly but firm, the one who enforces the law regardless of nationality or religion.

- Cheating is growing in the tourism industry and there are people who advertise big about programmes they cannot fulfil. When their victims come to Dubai they don't receive the services they have been promised.

Through its special tourism unit, Dubai Police is currently expanding its coverage to handle unscrupulous tourist operators and agencies that are found cheating people. The police are not going to allow anyone to harm Dubai's image.

- Dubai Police has the best anti-money laundering unit in the region and one of the best in the world. People who are suspicious of the influx of foreign investments into Dubai do not believe that the success Dubai has achieved and the trust it has gained have made it one of the best locations for investment.

The police are ready to investigate any case. There are cases of money laundering that have been referred to the court and the police have gained international recognition for fighting financial crimes. There are bankers, accountants and law experts in the unit.