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Dubai: Women, children can now seek help on police app during emergencies

A top official urges people to not misuse the feature or use it to test the police response

Women, children and people of determination facing any emergency in Dubai can quickly seek help with a tap of their mobile phone screens after Dubia Police updated its app with a new distress feature.

Named ‘Protect Child and Woman’, the feature enables women or children in distress to seek police help by sending an SOS during emergencies with one click on the app, to which the force will immediately respond and reach the sender's location. Tapping on the option in the app results in the users' location to be detected and the complainant only needs to slide their finger right to confirm it.

Announcing the new feature during a press conference yesterday, a top Dubai Police official urged people to not misuse the feature or use it to test the police response.

Dubai Police's app has clocked over four million downloads, while more than 2.1 million transactions have been conducted on it over the last three years. The app, which uses the latest programming languages and artificial intelligence, supports seven languages: Arabic, English, Russian, German, Chinese, French and Spanish.

At the announcement, Major General Khalid Nasser Al Razooqi, Director of the General Department of Artificial Intelligence at Dubai Police, said the new update aligns with the Dubai Police Strategic plan for Artificial Intelligence and Dubai Smart Government directions. He added that the Dubai Police Smart Application has won six consecutive awards for the 'Best Government Service' and ranked first in the Hamdan Bin Mohammad Programme for Government Services.

"The significant number of downloads and transactions reflect the force's keenness to excel in providing the best services and features to facilitate the process for customers," he added.

Seven new features

Hessa Al Balooshi, Director of the Smart Applications Department at the General Department of Artificial Intelligences, said the app includes a 'Dashboard' containing personal information, e-cards and all transactions offered to the customer, in addition to statistics showing the percentage of services usage and traffic violations recorded on the traffic file.

"The latest update to the smart app features several services that provide an exceptional customer experience. To make the login process more accessible, customers can now sign in to the Dubai Police app using the face recognition feature," she added.

The director of the Smart Applications Department also indicated that the smart app has been developed to detect severe accidents, such as car collisions, and send out a automatic distress signal (SOS) in case of such incidents without human intervention.

"It also includes a new feature that notifies users of temporary street closures and major traffic accidents. When a major accident that calls for a temporary road closure is reported to the Command and Control Room or police patrols, road users will be notified via the Dubai Police app so they can seek alternative routes and avoid congestions," she explained.

Visually-impaired people

"The updated app includes a feature for visually impaired people to enable them to request assistance and submit complaints and suggestions. It also contains a camera reading for blind people, which processes captured images," Al Balooshi elaborated.

During the conference, the General Department of Artificial Intelligence presented several essential services, including Police Eye, that aim to engage the public in combating crime, reporting violations and ensuring safety and security within communities.

Samer Al Khajah, Head of the Programmes Section at the General Department of Artificial Intelligence, said the public has reported 4,963 violations since 2020.

"The 'Police Eye' service allows people to report any violation, including disturbance, brawls, alcohol/drug trafficking or addiction, antisocial behaviour or suspicious activities that may subject offenders to legal liabilities," he added.

Al Khajah added that the number of registered users of the force's 'Sail Safely' feature for maritime safety has reached 5,095. The service provides users free and easy access to interactive marine maps and also determines the nature of an emergency, such as drowning, collision, shortage of fuel or boat malfunction.

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