Video: Futuristic new Dubai Police patrols coming soon, revealed at World Police Summit

Dubai: A high-tech next generation fleet of Dubai Police patrols will be deployed next week, Commander-In-Chief of Dubai Police told Gulf News on the sidelines of the World Police Summit at Expo 2020 Dubai on Tuesday.

Lieutenant General Abdulla Khalifa Al Marri said: “The new patrols are heavily equipped with artificial intelligence and advanced technology to make the patrol officer depend more on the on-board equipment to cut time and effort while on duty. We will have 10 ‘Ghiath’ patrols on roads next week.”

Ghiath patrols - also known as ‘The Beast’ - use facial recognition cameras and plate number recognition to identify cars and wanted people while patrolling. “For example, if the officer wants to check about any car then Ghiath can recognise the plate number and show all details about the car in seconds without the need to contact the command room,” Lt Gen Al Marri added.

The custom-made vehicle costs between Dh390,000 and Dh650,000 depending on the modifications added. It comes with two drones, 10 screens and nine cameras that can beam live images to a control room.

Also on Tuesday, Dubai Police tweeted a video showing the transformation of its patrols from 1950s to the tech-dominated supercharged vehicles today – and even a flying patrol that seems to herald the near future. The short video encapsulates the rapid journey in patrolling from the early days of a single police station in Naif area until futuristic metropolis of Dubai.

New face of crime

Lt Gen Al Marri said the shape of crime has changed and become electronic, which needs gatherings such as the World Police Summit to exchange practices and experience between countries.

“Electronic crimes represent 30 per cent of crime rates, but collaboration between world police departments and agencies by showcasing challenges, experience and practices will boost combating the crime.”

“I hope to hold the summit every year in Dubai. We want to show and share as well as open channels with other police agencies like in the UK and US, Asia and others. The summit is a good chance to learn from others as the force will keep learning to enhance the global position among others,” he added.

1,000 arrests

The second day of the inaugural World Police Summit witnessed the Forensic Science Conference and the Crime Prevention Conference. According to Rory Corcoran, Director – Financial Crime and Anti-Corruption Centre (IFCACC), Interpol, financial crimes and corruption, as one, represent the single largest threat faced by Interpol’s 195 member countries.

“Our multi-pronged response strategy is backed by data and analytics and intelligence-led policing, with partnerships and collaborations among individuals, organisations, and countries, to ensure a cohesive approach. This approach is working. In response to cryptocurrency and modern financial crimes in Asia, we have made over 1,000 arrests, intercepted $275 million (around Dh1 billion) of illicit money, and frozen more than 2,000 bank accounts,” Corcoran said.

The first day of summit on Monday had seen more than 4,000 people from 73 countries in attendance, including over 50 policing chiefs.