Senior police officer calls for better monitoring to curb bribery

Dubai A senior Dubai Police officer has called for a strict monitoring system on corporate employees to curb bribery and corruption.

During a closed workshop last week, Lieutenant Colonel Jamal Al Jalaf, director of the crime monitoring department at Dubai Police, said systems similar to ones in developed countries should be put in place to monitor staff members of different ranks in governmental and private establishments and companies.

"The system will ensure accountability for these people and avoid exposure to the temptations of bribery that would lead to administrative corruption," he said.

One governmental inspector resisted temptation and refused to accept three gold bars offered as a bribery to pass a shipment to a person.

Corporate corruption in Dubai is committed on all levels, he said.

"Another complexity is that many senior and junior employees in accompany have the authority to approve applications without going through a chain of command. This opens the door to many violations unless there a practical and sufficient monitoring body," he said.

Among the cases dealt with Dubai Police, a staff member at a private company embezzled exchange cards provided by an oil company and had it converted into cash in collaboration with workers at a petrol station.

Another case this year involved a bank employee using apen with exctract an envelope containing Dh19,000 from an ATM.

The case was referred to the public prosecution.

Data: 36 cases of bribery during the last nine months

Dubai Police recorded 36 cases of bribery during the last nine months, according to police data. Most involved bribes offered to government officials, with only few accepting them. Last year, Dubai Police registered 37 bribery cases.

Lt Col. Al Jalaf said that he noted during his lecture that bribery is not only financial but has several forms, including hiring someone for the completion of a transaction or obtaining sexual pleasure or spending an evening at a place pointing out that Dubai Police have sufficient experience to crack such cases of people who take advantage of their jobs.

He said the majority of people caught on charges of bribery were targeting government officials, especially in service departments such as the Municipality and airport traffic policemen.