Dubai: People with disabilities can now SMS 999 for emergencies from any emirate.
Dubai Police said their latest smartphone texting service targets persons who might have trouble speaking on the phone due to their disabilities.
Brigadier Kamel Butti Al Suwaidi, Director of Operations Department of Dubai Police, said once the message is received at the operations room, an officer will text back with more information and open a case report.
“The service is completely free, available in Arabic and English and can be used anywhere in the UAE. We receive all messages, and if the person in need is in another emirate, we contact the relevant authority in that emirate, so they can send help,” he said.
The service can also be used by people whose situation does not allow them to speak, “like for example when someone suspects that someone has broken into their house and does not want to alert the culprit,” Brigadier Al Suwaidi said.
He added that Dubai Police has a list of people with disabilities that is tied into the system so the officer in the operations room is aware of the sender’s condition.
“This new service is in line with Dubai Police’s strategy of providing best services to the public and is also part of it’s social responsibility,” he said.
He urged the public to use the service only for emergencies, as they could use the 999 hotline.
The operations room has also improved its 3D Maps system, that allows them to track all police assets such as patrols, motorcycles, ambulances and helicopters.
“The old system was only accessible from the operations room. Now we have made it web-based so it can be accessed through any computer through the browser. This makes the system available to police stations and mobile operations room,” he said.
The computer needs to be connected to Dubai Police’s intranet.
Another new feature added to the 3D Maps system is the ability to replay the response to any incident or accident.
“We can see how each police or ambulance vehicle responded to any incident we choose, and see what route it took and how long it took to reach the scene of an incident. This helps us access our performance and see how we can make it better,” Brigadier Al Suwaidi explained.
The replay can be made into a video and sent to other departments if needed.
The system also helps them come up with the optimum security plan for any scenario that can happen. The upgrade also enables the police force to easily turn the statistics logged into the system to useful graphs with a click of a button, which helps them identify problem areas and plan better.
Dubai Police’s response time goal for serious incidents is to attend to 90 per cent of the accidents within 15 minutes, which Brig Al Suwaidi said they do.
