1.1981638-3339621698
The Command and Control Room of Dubai Police at Dubai Police Headquarters. Biometrics is expected to ramp up the police’s crime-fighting abilities. Image Credit: Ahmed Ramzan/Gulf News archives

Dubai: The Dubai Police command room is getting new artificial intelligence and biometric facial recognition software to help predict future crimes in areas of the city known to police, an official said on Monday.

Brigadier Kamil Butti Al Suwaidi, Director of Operations Department in Dubai Police, said the command room will include a smart security system to prevent and respond to criminal activity as swiftly as possible.

The new technology will not stop future crimes as depicted in the sci-fi Tom Cruise thriller “Minority Report”, he said, but it will go a long way to helping officers do their jobs.

Thanks to highly sophisticated biometric software, unique facial characteristics of known or wanted criminals can be automatically recognised via an international database through closed-circuit television cameras installed in public places and are common in major cities around the globe.

Dubai is no exception, said Brig Al Suwaidi, and when similar biometric software is triggered, alerts will be sent to police officers on the beat ensuring a quicker, immediate response to prevent any potential crimes being carried out in the emirate.

The new upgrade will also help locate wanted criminals via CCTV searches conducted of public areas via the command room.

“The system will provide data and information about the areas expecting crimes to happen. The system stores the data about the crimes and in which areas and based on the data, the system will analyse it and will provide the police information about the location of the future crime.”

Brig Al Suwaidi said police will use facial software technology to make identification of suspects easier for officers working in connection to surveillance and investigations operations.

“This technology will provide the information to the duty officer about any suspect depending on the big data in the operation room and the criminal system,” Brig Al Suwaidi said.

Dubai Police said that its the first known system in the region using artificial intelligence and that the technology will help to reduce number of crimes in Dubai and will cut the time needed to respond and reduce crimes.

“We want to have a new modern command room as part of Dubai Police strategy to secure the city. We want to have a smart security system,” Brig Al Suwaidi said.

Automated alerts compiled and sent by artificial intelligence technology will notify the police officer about any traffic or people gathering in Dubai in order to respond faster in incidents requiring immediate police presence, he said.

The command room will include a smart security system to predict future crimes.

“The system will provide data and information about the areas where crimes are likely to be committed. The system stores the data about the crimes and in which areas, and based on the data the system will analyse it and will alert the police about the likely location of the future crime.”

Since the present command room was launched in 2006, he said that it was now time to upgrade the systems. The room has 40 screens linked together to cover the city.