Dubai Police review preparations for New Year’s Eve celebrations

The meeting was chaired by Major General Expert Khalil Ibrahim Al Mansouri, Assistant Commander-in-Chief for Criminal Investigation Affairs at Dubai Police.

The meeting reviewed feedback and enquiries from strategic partners and discussed challenges anticipated during various upcoming events besides preparations to secure venues and locations for events and fireworks displays. Deliberations also focused on Dubai Tourist Police procedures. Furthermore, the meeting delved into the security arrangements, operational protocols, and communication centres established at various residential communities.

Among those who attended the meeting included Brigadier Turki bin Fares, Deputy Director of the General Department of Operations; Brigadier Harib Al Shamsi, Assistant Director General for Administrative Affairs in the General Department of Criminal Investigations; Brigadier Khalfan Obaid Al Jallaf, Director of Dubai Tourist Police; Dr Maitha Buhumaid, Director of Strategic Media Affairs at the Government of Dubai Media Office (GDMO); and Manal Ibrahim Haji, Director of the Security Media Department; besides several representatives of strategic partners.

The meeting also reviewed presentations on collaborative security plans involving various participating entities to ensure the safety of people attending celebrations all around Dubai.

Most significant festivities

Major General Al Mansouri said that New Year’s celebrations make for one of the most significant festivities in Dubai, attracting large numbers of people from across the UAE and all over the world, and assured that all arrangements were in place to ensure seamless celebrations at multiple locations. He also highlighted the importance of collaboration between various entities especially in ensuring the smooth flow of traffic as traffic congestion is expected to be one of the major challenges given the large numbers of people expected to attend celebrations at various locations.

Unflagging vigilance

Dr Maitha Buhumaid expressed her appreciation to the General Command of Dubai Police for their security and law enforcement endeavours, adding that the unflagging vigilance on their part ensured that all activities and events held in Dubai enjoyed the highest levels of safety and security in keeping with international standards. She also highlighted the importance of such meetings in helping draw up plans for major events hosted and organised by Dubai throughout the year and especially New Year’s celebrations since they had been attracting an ever-growing number of tourists and audiences worldwide.

Scenario-based exercise

Dubai Police’s Events Security Committee (ESC), in collaboration with the Dubai Police Resilience Centre, organised a scenario-based exercise in preparation for the New Year’s Eve events. The exercise, held at Dubai Police’s Department of Protective Security and Emergency in the presence of Major General Rashid Khalifa Al Falasi, Director of the department, involved various government, semi-governmental, and corporate entities in Dubai.

Major General Al Falasi welcomed attendees and explained the various stages of the drill, highlighting the strategic objectives of the exercise in assessing the readiness of various entities to address any potential issues that could arise during the celebrations.

Before the meeting concluded, Major General Al Mansouri urged all pertinent entities to intensify their efforts and collaborate as one big team to ensure that the public could enjoy the festive atmosphere safely. Such a unified effort would further enhance the distinguished reputation of Dubai and the UAE globally, he added.