Dubai Police report significant drop in crime rates

Dubai continues to strengthen its position among the safest cities in the world as the number of crimes reported and registered dropped further this year.

The Dubai Police on Sunday said it registered a 25 per cent decrease in serious crimes in the first three months of 2023 as compared to the same period last year.

While ‘non-alarming’ criminal reports also declined by 7.1 per cent over the same period. Additionally, reports filed against unknown people decreased by 14 per cent.

This came as Lieutenant-General Abdullah Khalifa Al Marri, commander-in-chief of the Dubai Police, also chaired a performance evaluation meeting of the General Department of Criminal Investigation.

Numbeo’s Safety Index 2023 has rated Dubai 7th safest city globally along with Abu Dhabi, Doha and Sharjah also being ranked in the top 10 safest. The emirate’s position improves further – 6th – when ranked among the Asian countries.

Another global study released by Insuremytrip rated Dubai as the world’s safest city for solo female travellers. As per Condor Ferries research, 84 per cent of solo travellers are female globally, which highlights how safe the city is for women.

Predict and prevent crime

The Dubai Police have launched hi-tech programmes since 2017 that can “predict” crimes before they happen. The system predicts the time and location of the crime as well, hence, improving the police’s capability to deal with crimes.

Moreover, the emirate has also implemented state-of-the-art and new-age technologies such as artificial intelligence and big data etc. to make the city safer for residents and visitors.

In April, the General Department of Criminal Investigation at Dubai Police signed an agreement with 10 banks and financial institutions to enhance the security system and collaborate with partners for investigating and anticipating the future of economic crimes.

With the assistance of AI, smart cameras and speed mobility, the police have successfully made arrests within hours.

Colonel Rashed bin Dhaboui, director of the Criminal Control Department, said the force used technology to “predict crime” to prevent them. Additionally, the police employed emerging criminal methods using artificial intelligence techniques.

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