Crimebusters: the new Dubai Police class of 2011

Noting previous deficiencies in training, Lt Gen Dahi Khalfan Tamim welcomes new criminal investigators to the police force.

DUBAI // Life for criminals in Dubai has been growing tougher in the past three years - and it's about to get tougher still.

More than two dozen new criminal investigators joined the force yesterday, all graduates of a sophisticated training programme that has transformed crimefighting in the emirate.

"The programme was developed after we noticed there were shortcomings in the training and development of officers when we reviewed important criminal investigations," the Dubai Police chief Lt Gen Dahi Khalfan Tamim said.

The course teaches officers skills from body-langauge interpretation to interrogation and surveillance methods, and its graduates have led every successful major case investigation in the past three years.

"We have followed their development and case results and found that they have been involved in all the major busts across the different segments of the CID department," Gen Tamim said.

The training programme, simply called Investigator, is the first Emirati innovation in the criminal sciences field, the police chief said.

It teaches newly developed scientific methods and new investigative techniques, using the experience of veteran officers in lectures and practical sessions. The programme was developed and is taught at the Dubai Police Criminal Investigations Administration.

One of yesterday's 26 new graduates, Lt Mohammed Obaid Hilal, who graduated at the top of his class, said: "Our lack of experience was compensated for by the course, which presented us with a scientific approach to crime investigations. We also gained important practical experience that can take years to develop."

Another graduate, Lt Mohammed al Hafiety, said: "The experience shared by more senior officers and experienced ones during the course helped us in the field, as the basic role of criminal investigation involves dealing with the main sources of crime and limiting their options."

According to the Maj Gen Khalil al Mansoori, the director of the Criminal Investigations Administration, the department utilizes all available means to prevent crimes. Officials said the Criminal Investigation Department represented the backbone of security in the emirate.

"The tasks of the department are to control crime in all forms, following the ways it develops, and utilising all means to prevent it, and to achieve social stability," Gen al Mansoori said.

The department has dealt with crimes ranging from quarrels and verbal disagreements to murders, rapes, armed robberies and kidnappings.

The new graduates will be dispersed among different specialty areas such as drug trafficking, money laundering, and tracking down and detaining internationally wanted criminals.

Their functions and duties within the department cover a wide geographical area of the emirate, Gen al Mansoori said.

Gen Tamim said all administrations within the Dubai Police should adopt and develop such programmes, which give officers a scientific edge.

"Preparing home-grown criminal science experts will make Dubai Police one of the internationally leading police forces," he said.