The world’s first Smart police station, launched by Dubai Police this week, will be in every neighborhood in the emirate according to a senior officer.
“We plan to open up a Smart Station in every neighborhood and we are in discussions with developers in Dubai to achieve that,” the general director of smart services at Dubai Police, Brig Khalid Al Razooqi, told Al Arabiya English.
The aim, he said, is to open up police services to a larger portion of the public in the emirate where people often hold back from reporting crimes for a number of reasons.
“People often do not want to report crimes because they feel that they will compromise their privacy, furthermore some people are intimidated by the fact that would have to go to a police station and deal with officers where language or customs would be a barrier therefore the Smart Police Station offers them private virtual interaction, direct access and a 24-hour service,” he said.
Sixty services are provided with 27 that involve direct contact with police through a 24-hour virtual connection to a control room and a further 33 that are fully automated.
The Smart Station provides private kiosks for members of the public to report incidents, crimes and complaints, Brig al-Razooqi explained.
“In many kinds of crimes that are reported privacy is required, when in the kiosk you are authentically identified through your Emirates ID for residents or your passport for visitors. A scanner and printer are provided when you file your complaint, then you would be connected to a police officer through video conference where your statement would be taken and the case discussed,” he said.
Fines services provided also include cash payment systems, credit cards and near field communication (NFC) systems.
“Members of the public would be able to pay with the NFC systems like Samsung pay and other providers, despite that some members still prefer to use cash and we have that provision available also”.
