Sharjah: Sharjah Police have recorded a double-digit decline in crime rate in 2016 compared to last year and are adopting a crime prevention strategy for 2017, officials said.
During an interaction on Thursday, senior police officials, including Brigadier Saif Al Ziri Al Shamsi, Sharjah Police commander-in-chief; Colonel Abdullah Mubarak Bin Amer, deputy chief of Sharjah Police; Colonel Mohammad Rashid Bayat, director of Operations; Colonel Arif Al Sharif, deputy director of Central Operations; Colonel Ebrahim Al Ajel, director of Criminal and Investigation Department; and Colonel Arif Bin Hudeib, head of Media and Public Relations Department, briefed the media on the police force’s performance last year.
Brigadier Al Shamsi said media plays a key role in achieving security, stability and peace in the country.
Sharjah witnessed a decline of 26 per cent in serious crimes during 2016 compared to last year. A total of 1,511 crimes took place in 2016 compared to 2,040 in 2015. Thefts from public utilities dropped by 54 per cent and those from private establishments fell by 43.5 per cent. Murder cases witnessed a 30 per cent drop in 2016 while assault cases increased by 7.5 per cent.
Colonel Bayat said the police have drawn up a plan for early crime prevention, including an intense awareness campaign to spread the culture of respecting the law. Also, patrolling has been intensified on roads and in crime-prone areas.
The police have deployed 22 security, 12 police and 10 CID patrols in unmarked vehicles to ensure safety and security of residents.
Also, a security culture programme for schools has been adopted to tackle bad behaviour such as absenteeism, smoking, bullying and violence.
Col Bayat pointed out that the drop in the crime rate was also brought about by activating constructive initiatives that aimed to settle disputes such as the ‘Reconciliation is the best way’ initiative, boosting cooperation between community members and the police. He said financial disputes formed 50 per cent of criminal cases.
In 2016, the Sharjah Police settled Dh345.8 million worth of financial disputes without having to refer cases to courts, while Dh262 million worth of financial disputes were settled in 2015.
The initiative was in line with the strategic objective of the Ministry of Interior that calls for enhancing customers’ confidence in public services. The initiative allowed people involved in disputes, including cases of bounced cheques, to settle issues amicably. Those who issued such cheques were permitted to pay the amount at the police stations before referring their cases to the court.
Col Bayat said the General Department of Criminal Investigation achieved 100 per cent success in arresting the culprits involved in serious crimes, pointing out a new mechanism adopted by the police of tracking the movements of suspects who were previously involved in crimes helped reduce crimes like physical assaults and knife attacks.
Those who committed serious crimes such as murder, robbery and assault were already behind bars. Perpetrators who had managed to flee the country were arrested later, he said. He said in most incidents, the police arrested the culprits before they could flee the country which is a significant achievement for the emirate’s security teams.
The emirate will activate around 7,000 surveillance cameras to monitor Sharjah roads. Colonel Bin Amer said 90 per cent of the cameras in the city have been installed and all devices will be activated during the coming months. “In the first stage, 5,000 cameras are being installed, the second and third phase will cover the east and central regions of the emirate,” he said.
15% increase in drug cases
Sharjah witnessed a 15 per cent increase in drug-related cases in 2016 as police recorded 643 such cases compared to 453 cases in 2015.
The police seized more than eight million tablets of narcotics in four major cases and arrested seven suspects.
“The department spares no effort in raising awareness about the dangers of narcotics, especially among youth as they are the most vulnerable,” Col Bin Amer said.
Police organised 53 activities to make people aware of the risks of drugs and these benefited 5,150 people. Thirteen persons expressed their desire to take treatment from a rehabilitation centre after attending these sessions. A total of 24 persons are seeking treatment after the new law on drug offenders was issued.
Traffic accidents drop
The number of fatalities from traffic accidents decreased by 17.6 per cent in 2016 compared to 2015. Last year, traffic accidents resulted in 131 deaths, while 159 people died in such accidents in 2015.
Meanwhile, the police recorded 1,478,775 traffic violations in 2016.
Police launched 21 traffic campaigns last year which helped bring down the number of accidents [including collision, run over accidents and overturning] to 607 from 679 in 2015. Cases of serious injuries in accidents also dropped by 24 per cent — from 86 in 2015 to 65 in 2016.
Sharjah Police are focusing on reducing traffic accidents, fatalities and injuries and not focusing on fining motorists, Brig Al Shamsi pointed out.
999 for emergencies
Police received 727,767 calls on the 999 emergency number during 2016, but 43,251 calls of them were related to minor issues; and 116,762 calls were received on 901.
The response time — personnel reaching the incident site after the emergency call — was 10.75 minutes last year.
“We have a goal, as mentioned in Sharjah Police’s strategy, to answer calls on 999 or 901 within three rings, which equals 10 seconds,” he said.
The personnel answer calls in five languages — Arabic, English, Urdu, Persian and Russian.
“We received a number of calls on the emergency number for general enquiries and bogus emergencies which placed an extra and unnecessary strain on emergency resources,” said Lt-Col Jasem Bin Hada, director of the Control Room at the Operations Department. He said people have to understand that 999 is to help someone who is in urgent need of help or in an emergency, such as an accident, heart attack, or a fire. People should call 901 for non-emergency issues.
Complaint against police staff
Lt-Col Bin Hada explained the procedure for an individual to lodge a complaint against a police officer. He said anyone can lodge a complaint against a police officer through the Ministry of Interior website [https://www.moi.gov.ae/en] and the issue will be investigated.
“Also, the person can come to me; our offices are open to the public and we take feedback from people to improve our services,” he said.
According to the Ministry of Interior’s report in 2016, Sharjah Police addressed all complaints filed against police officers last year, he said.
Najeed helpline
Residents can contact Najeed service for reporting an issue in a secret manner without having to face repercussions by calling 800151, SMS to 7999, fax 06-5529000, email najeed@shjpolice.gov.ae or visit the website: www.shjpolice.gov.ae/najeed
