Though it started as a simple fishing village in the 18th century, Dubai has become one of the most famous cities in the world. Today, Dubai is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates and has become notorious for the extreme luxury it offers. The city is known for its unique architecture like the tallest building in the world, Burj Khalifa. With the second highest concentration of 5 star hotels, Dubai has also become famous for its amazing tourist industry. Opulence in Dubai has even begun to extend to the Dubai Police Force.

Police officers in Dubai get to patrol in Bugattis, Porsches, and Lamborghinis. In May of 2021, Brig Mohammad Al Razooqi, director of transport and rescue for the Dubai Police was on hand to introduce the police force’s latest vehicle, Hyundai’s luxurious SUV the Genesis GV80. The GV80 is a bit less flashy than some of the other cars the police use, but as Razooqi said, “We are constantly looking for ways to connect with the public. We’re not trying to show off with these cars. Rather, we want to show tourists and residents alike how friendly the police are across the city.” High end cars are not the only fancy tools the Dubai Police Force uses.

Dubai’s police also have a large fleet of drones to help keep the city safe. The drones the police use have high resolution cameras with infrared and night vision capabilities. The drones also have speakers on them. The police use drones to monitor traffic, monitor drug trafficking, investigate crime scenes, pursue suspects, and inspect heavy trucks. These use cases are very similar to how police departments around the world have begun using drones, with one main difference. In Dubai, police are actively using drones to collect data that allow them to cite offenders with violations.

For example, overseen by the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) department of the police force, Dubai started using drones to inspect heavy delivery trucks for violations last year. The Licensing Activities Monitoring, Licensing Agency of the RTA trained nine people to use the drones to inspect trucks in ways that would be dangerous and difficult to do manually. The director of the program, Mohammad Nabhan said, “The drone inspection had improved the operational efficiency of field inspection of heavy vehicles and eased the difficulties encountered by inspectors when inspecting parts of heavy vehicles, which are normally difficult to access. Since we started using drones in heavy vehicle inspections last year, we have conducted more than 300 inspections, recording 580 flying minutes and resulting in reporting 48 offenses.”

Meanwhile, police officers have ramped up their use of drones in the last months. The drones are being used to monitor for COVID-19 safety parameters and other day to day violations. The Dubai Police Force reported citing 4,400 violations captured by drone technology in the first quarter of 2021. These violations included citations for 518 incidents of people failing to meet COVID-19 safety regulations, 2,933 traffic offenses, 128 cycling violations, 706 against electric bicycles, 159 wanted cars, and 37 jaywalking citations. The images captured by the drones are irrefutable and result in violators having to pay a fine. However, in some cases, like jaywalking and failures to wear a mask, the police simply deliver a warning to the violator through the drone’s speaker.

The Dubai Police Force began using drones in 2017. At that time, Brigadier Dr. Khalid Al Marri, Deputy Director of Operational Communication of the Dubai Police Force, explained that the police were fortunate to have 4G connectivity to enable the broad use of drones throughout the city. “The new technology,” Maj-Gen Al Merri went on to say “will help to record events, emergencies, disasters, and accidents in Dubai and live broadcast to the command room so the officer can take proper decisions on time. It will also archive the recordings to use them for training purposes.” For police departments around the world, drones have proven to be invaluable tools that are inexpensive to purchase. Looking at the luxury vehicle fleet used by the Dubai Police Force, cost is clearly not an issue. Still, the drone technology the police department uses just might be more useful than a Bugatti police cruiser. With drones, the police of Dubai aims to add being the safest city in the world to its reputation for being one of the most wealthy cities.

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