Emirates News Agency – “K9” in Dubai Police will carry out 2,830 missions during 2021

DUBAI, 4th May / WAM / His Excellency Major General Abdullah Ali Al Ghaithi, Acting Assistant Commander-in-Chief of Dubai Police for Operations Affairs and Director of the General Department of Security of Organizations, Facilities and Emergency in Dubai Police, confirmed that they give police dogs special care and attention, given their vital role in detecting detection. Many crimes are carried out efficiently, such as tracing, securing events, detecting drugs, and ensuring the safety of various sites and regions to ensure that they are free from any potential dangers.

Major General Al-Ghaithi noted that the K9 Security Inspection Department, which is concerned with police dogs, carried out 2,830 missions during the past year 2021, including 1,312 security inspection missions, 542 examination missions to detect infection with the Corona virus, 480 guard missions, 381 security patrol missions, and 53 detection missions. Drugs, 30 tracing missions, 20 raid missions, 11 fire detection missions, in addition to Expo 2020 Dubai missions throughout 2021, during preparation for it and following its opening, during which 879 inspection and guarding missions were carried out.

For his part, Major Salah Al Mazrouei, Director of the K9 Security Inspection Department in the General Department for the Security of Organizations, Facilities and Emergency, said that the department is concerned with training police dogs, selecting trainers, conducting daily training, and providing all forms of health and psychological care, and preventive and curative programs, and it includes 3 sections, a section Technical Affairs and Training, Health Monitoring Section, and Security Missions Section.

He added, “In selecting the trainers, we take into account their patience and physical fitness, their love for dealing with police dogs, their quick intuition and quick action. On dog breeds, types and temperament, training courses continue throughout the year.

Major Al Mazrouei explained that a specialized committee conducts tests of dogs’ instincts to ensure their ability to perform police work, then they are subject to field tests in dark or narrow places, indoor and outdoor, in addition to carrying out tasks that require attack, raid and others.

He pointed out that they have attracted dogs between the ages of 10 months and a year and a half, and they continue to work until their default life, which is approximately 7 years, and if they are able to continue, according to experts and specialists in training, health and fitness, they will continue for more than that.

He pointed out that the dog’s inability to perform its duties is called the cancellation process, and it relates to two parts, one of which is medical, and its report is issued by the Health Monitoring Department, to prove the police dog’s physical and health eligibility, and the second part is approved by the training experts who issue a report showing the ability of the police dog to continue performing its police duties with high efficiency. If the medical and technical reports, or one of them, showed the police dog’s ineligibility, it would be offered for adoption in front of the public according to specific conditions. Indeed, we receive many applications for the adoption of dogs who love to care and keep them.

The Director of the K9 Security Inspection Department explained that the police dogs performed security tasks at the World Expo 2020 Dubai, during preparation for it and following its launch, in addition to participating in presentations in front of the public, and live experiences of the ability of police dogs, accompanied by their trainers, to detect prohibited substances and drugs. He pointed out their success in training police dogs to detect people likely to be infected with the Corona virus, “because the trained police dogs have a very strong sense of smell, which can be used in police patrols, and to secure important vital sites, such as commercial centers, events, crowds and airports.” “There is no direct interaction between dogs and the people to be examined, but rather we rely on human sweat samples, which helps to implement precautionary measures and maintain physical distance.”

For his part, Captain Saud Sultan Al-Suwaidi, Head of Technical Affairs and Training Department, said that during the past year, they carried out 7,923 hours of training for trainers and their dogs, stressing their keenness to hold training courses throughout the year, and to create training scenarios that simulate reality to maintain the level of performance.

He added that there are techniques used in training operations, including a scent extraction device, and placing them in boxes to train police dogs to smell and identify them in the performance of security tasks, such as drugs and prohibited materials or in cases of tracing and so on. Also, one of the techniques used is placing a location tracking device in the dog’s collar, so that trainers can track its trace in search and rescue operations, and know the places that have been searched.

He stressed that the choice of a trainer with a police dog is not random, but rather according to criteria determined by the personality of the trainer, the characteristics and skills of the dog, and each team is subjected to evaluation tests every six months to measure productivity, success in performing tasks and the extent of compatibility between them.

In turn, Captain Khalifa Al-Suwaidi, head of the security missions department, said that police dogs have become a major focus in search and rescue operations, tracking and odors, guarding missions, and others, and they share their experience and competence in missions inside and outside the country.

– hopefull –