Dubai: Dubai Police’s ‘Catch Thieves’ programme has helped in reducing “worrying” crimes in Bur Dubai area, police said.
Bur Dubai Police station registered 21,661 complaints last year, according to police statistics.
After the programme was implemented, ‘worrying’ crimes fell to 15.3 per cent of the total complaints received by the station last year. while the security indicator of the residents rose to 94.2 per cent, Major-General Khalil Ebrahim Al Mansouri, Assistant to the Dubai Police Chief for Criminal Investigation Affairs, said.
The programme is based on data analysis of the security situation in the area that factors in the localities where crimes can occur and where the suspects and thieves could be hiding.
More than 1,782 police patrols were deployed in different areas in Bur Dubai to check for suspicious behaviour, and 3,189 people were checked last year.
Colonel Abdullah Khadim Al Muasam, director of Bur Dubai Police Station, said that they arrested six suspects who were trying to break into villas in the area.
“The programme helped arrest 55 suspects in criminal cases and 77 people who were staying illegally in the country. The programme led to the arrest of six thieves who were trying to break into houses in the area,” Col. Al Muasam said.
Last year, a thief was attempting to flee with stolen goods from a villa when he found a police patrol waiting for him as he stepped out of the house, the police said.
“Every member in the programme can take a decision without referring to the high command. The professionalism in their work is based on the experience they have earned from working in the streets. They can sense the security situation of an area,” Col. Al Muasam added.
