Dubai: An elite squad of women police officers is playing a pivotal role in guarding hundreds of VIPs visiting the emirate and providing security during high-profile events, Dubai Police said on Saturday.
Since 2015, officers at the Security Management and VIP Protection Agency at Dubai Police have guarded 523 personalities and provided security for more than a 1,000 events, including conferences, exhibitions and celebrations. The officers, both men and women, have been trained to “be ready for anything that might jeopardise the security of a person or event”, Brigadier Abdullah Al Gaithi, director of the Department of Administration and Emergency Security, said.
“Our officers undergo a rigorous training on a par with international standards. We use modern technology to provide simulation training which helps them be ready for any potential situation which puts a person’s or event’s security at risk.”
Brig Al Gaithi said Dubai Police ensure that security is a pillar of the community.
Lieutenant Colonel Obaid Bin Mubarak Yarouf, director of Security Management and VIP Protection Agency, said that the women of the department are picked based on a specific set of criteria. “The women in our department are on a par with the men as far as their professionalism and training is concerned,” he said. “Our women officers undergo rigorous fighting and shooting training to prepare them for any potential circumstances. They are also qualified to drive cars and motorbikes and can guard VIP personnel as well as any other male officer in our department. In fact, they get the position only after they’ve excelled in the training.”
Lt Col Yarouf said that raids, incursions, freeing hostages and capturing kidnappers are among the tasks officers at the department have been trained for. “We use the highest standards of technology for our simulation training, which prepares our officers for almost any sort of incident.”
Captain Eman Salem has been working at the Security Management and VIP Protection Agency for more than 20 years. She said she enrolled in the agency as a challenge for herself. “I wanted to excel in a field that was dominated by men,” she said, adding that the training was difficult “yet I wanted to overcome the challenges to prove the potential of women. In the police academy, we undergo training that puts us in good shape. But the agency’s training is beyond that, we train for some dangerous and potentially life-threatening situations. We train for everything from how to handle hostage situations to how to jump out of a moving vehicle or from a high altitude, all while ensuring the safety of a VIP”.
Sergeant Ruqayah Ahmad Mohammad said she has been a motorbike enthusiast since her youth. “I was the only girl among a group of brothers. When the order came to issue a motorbike task force, I was thrilled and knew I had to be part of it,” she said, adding that when the motorbike task force was issued, six women were part of the first batch. “Today, there are 15 women qualified to professionally drive a motorbike, while keeping a VIP safe.”
