Dubai: Undercover cops have helped reduce crime in New Dubai communities this year, a senior police official told XPRESS.
Plainclothes policemen have been rounding up an increasing number of thieves and perverts on New Dubai's popular beaches, said Lieutenant Colonel Jamal Salem Al Jallaf, Deputy Director of the Control Section of Criminal Investigations Department (CID).
These areas, which fall under Jebel Ali Police Station, have recorded a 28.7 per cent decrease in major crimes — murder, rape, violence, drugs, arson, burglaries and break-ins. It has been the biggest decrease the area has experienced in the last decade and since it had been included in Dubai's overall policing plan.
Under police scanner
New Dubai has been on the police radar in recent times with the huge influx of expat residents to communities such as Dubai Marina, The Springs, The Lakes, The Meadows, The Greens, Tecom and Emirates Hills.
These residential spots are covered under Jebel Ali Police Station's five year plan, designed to achieve two objectives — first, preventing crimes, and second, identifying and catching criminals. According to Al Jallaf, plainclothes cops are working at the JBR Walk and the open beach, besides other areas, and driving away men who stare at women in swimsuits. "JBR is an important area and we keep the place safe by having police patrol the area in golf carts," he said.
"We have a special undercover team that keeps an eye on people staring at others — people who are just looking," Al Jallaf said.
He said statistics revealed that the most common crimes in New Dubai are usually committed by people you know and live with, or from nearby areas. "We have a strategy for each area in Dubai, which is based on the type of crime, and the strategy is supported by programmes that achieve the target." Another important area of focus is road safety, given the increased traffic in the new communities, he said.
