Dubai: Despite the huge number of passengers at Dubai International Airports, police have reported zero unsolved crimes out of 1,175 cases registered last year.
Brigadier Ali Atiq Bin Lahej, director of the General Department of Airport Security at Dubai Police, said Dubai welcomed 91 million passengers who felt safe despite the fact that they did not see any policeman wearing a uniform.
“We achieved our target to make all passengers feel safe when they arrive and depart from the city without noticing police presence in the airports. We implemented artificial intelligence in our work especially on security checks,” Brigadier Bin Lahej said.
He said that 9,500 advanced security cameras cover all Dubai and Al Maktoum international airports.
Last year, the police helped many passengers recover lost items and even in some cases their children who were forgotten at the airport by parents who were in a hurry to catch flights.
“We play a key and human role with passengers as we are the welcome point. We have an advanced programme for lost-and-found items.”
In one such case last year, they found $20,000 in cash in a bag in the transit area.
End-of-service benefits returned
They kept trying to find the owner for a couple of months — until they discovered that the money belonged to an Asian who had worked in Saudi Arabia and was carrying his end-of-service benefits, said Brigadier Bin Lahej.
“We managed to get his contacts and called him. He was pleasantly surprised to hear, after a long time, that we had found his money.”
Another incident involved a European woman who lost a bag containing 50,000 euros, phones, credit cards, jewellery and official certificates.
The woman left the country but Dubai Police sent the bag to her.
“A policeman found a Rolex watch worth Dh43,000 at the security checkpoint. We searched for the owner, a European man who forgot his watch while passing the security check.
"He was happy when we returned the watch to him before he boarded the plane,” he added.
