Dubai: Dubai Police launched new patrols specialised in securing traffic around schools and to raise awareness of safety among pupils and bus drivers, police announced on Thursday.
The new initiative called ‘Schools Security’ is part of Dubai Police’s plan to secure roads around schools so it leads to enhanced safety for students and to establish a friendlier relationship between children and policemen, as the latter are usually portrayed as figures who need to be feared by children.
Major General Abdullah Khalifa Al Merri, commander-in-chief of Dubai Police, said there will be three police patrols with the initiative’s logo to patrol school areas for now and by the end of the year, the number of patrols will increase.
“We want to create a new channel between schools and police. We will have an officer assigned to each school to guide the pupils, the school’s staff and parents and to communicate with them on their problems,” Major Gen Al Merri said.
He said all the 13 police stations in Dubai will have a specialised patrol with assistance also from the normal police patrols, and after three months, the results will be analysed to develop the initiative.
“We want [schools] to know what to do in case of a problem and how to avoid getting into trouble,” Maj Gen Al Merri added.
Brigadier Saeed Hamad Bin Sulaiman, director of Al Rashidiya police station, said all government and private schools in Dubai will be part of the initiative.
“It is a type of community police [back-up] for schools. We will have specialised police patrols and officers to attend schools’ activities. We will spread security awareness among pupils, parents, teachers and bus drivers to tackle any problem and to have a safe and secure society,” Brigadier Bin Sulaiman said.
He said that they want children to view a policeman as an approachable and friendly individual who is there for their protection.
“Some parents threaten children using the image of policeman as a scare tactic. We want to change this perception in children’s minds and to educate them that the policeman is their friend who can solve their problems,” Brigadier Bin Sulaiman added.
Meanwhile, Brigadier Yousuf Al Adidi, director of Al Qusais police station, said they have three school patrols in Bur Dubai, Deira and Hatta.
“Each school will have a policeman attending the morning meeting with pupils and deliver lectures on how to comabt bullying, bad friends and harassment. We want our pupils to know when to say no for strangers,” Brigadier Al Adidi said.
He said the initiative will cover 262 government schools and 191 private schools in Dubai and about 600,000 students and 39,000 school staff.
Another important aspect that will be dealt with by the police is the issue of smartphone usage among children. “We will educate them on how to use it [properly]to avoid troubles on the internet and social media platforms,” Big. Al Adidi said.
