Dubai Police on scene at emergencies in less than three minutes

Dubai Police urge public to use 901 for all non-urgent enquiries

Dubai Police answered emergencies in half the targeted response time of six minutes..  Pawan Singh / The National

Dubai Police responded to more than a million emergency calls in the first quarter of this year, with the majority answered in less than 10 seconds.

The police took 1,101,051 calls on its 999 number in the first three months of this year, which was down 23 per cent (1,353,269) compared to the same period last year.

The statistics, which were revealed during Dubai Police’s Operations Department's performance appraisal meeting, also showed that the average time for police patrols to reach emergency scenes was 2.47 minutes – half that of its targeted response time of six minutes.

Dubai Police's non-emergency call centre number – 901 – received 170,323 calls in the first quarter, which was 3 per cent higher than the number it received during the same period in 2020.

Dubai Police Commander-In-Chief Maj Gen Abdullah Al Marri, who led the meeting, urged the public to understand the difference between 901 and the emergency hotline, 999.

The 901 number is for non-urgent enquiries, such as reporting of traffic violations, cyber crimes or drug offences.

Dubai Police said it received more than five million calls on 999 every year, 75 per cent of which were non-urgent cases.