Dubai Police to patrol schools as educational campaign

The 'School Safety' campaign will teach hundreds of thousands of pupils the importance of working with police

Thirteen police cars will patrol school zones across Dubai to ensure smooth traffic flow and educate pupils on the hazards of breaking the law.

The new eco-friendly police vehicles will patrol school areas early in the morning as parents drop their children off or after school to pick them up — the two times with the highest rate of traffic offences.

“Police patrols will be deployed in school zones to ensure abidance by traffic rules. We will also carry out an awareness campaign to educate students and their families about wrongdoings”, said Maj Gen Abdullah Al Marri, commander-in-chief of Dubai Police.

Titled the ‘Schools Security’ campaign, the programme will be carried out in 453 private and government schools and reach 308,068 pupils in Dubai.

The campaign also seeks to make its officers, who are often feared by pupils, more approachable to children.

“Around a month ago, I was in Emirates Towers and used the elevator along with an Indian family. A member of the family told me that he used to be afraid of police officers when he was a child. He said that his family used to threaten him of police as a form of punishment. We want to change this stereotype image,” said Maj Gen Al Marri.

Brig Yusuf Al Adeedi, director of Al Qusais police station and the spokesperson of the campaign, said the officers will aim to teach pupils how to avoid and report sexual harassment.

“We seek to promote student’s awareness about criminal cases and how to say “No” to violence and sexual harassment. Lectures will be organised to educate pupils about the dangers of browsing unknown websites, among other topics,” he said.

Bus drivers will also be given courses on how to best advise the pupils.