UAE: Dubai Police appreciates aid from Forensic Biometrics Department

United Arab Emirates: the Dubai Police has recently shared an update regarding acknowledging and appreciating the aid that the Forensic Biometrics department has been providing in the investigations of around 2290 police cases so far. The officials stated, “The contribution that Forensic Department has provided is remarkable as it has helped in crucial cases since 2017”.

As per the post uploaded on the official social media account of the Dubai Police Force Department, the Forensic team has been helping in examining multiple factors, in which physical and visual forensic evidence has substantially helped the investigators of nearly 2,290 police cases from the past few years. 

As per Major General Ahmad Thani bin Ghalaita of Dubai Police, the work of police officers and experts in this field no longer have to limit their approach to the examination of the evidence from crime scenes to search for and apprehend offenders. 

The work has been upgraded to a new level with more accurate and quicker results, which ultimately helps Dubai Police in the investigation process.

Furthermore, “In today’s world, proactivity and technology added an edge binding act which requires us to predict future difficulties so accurate solutions can be developed on time to counter new criminal methodologies”.

Therefore, Lieutenant General Abdullah Khalifa Al Marri, Commander-in-Chief of Dubai Police, took it to convey that “Using and utilizing biometric fingerprints in the place of faceprint we used to take in consideration as visual forensic proof to disclose the identity of the accused,” he said.

On his part, Major General Bin Ghalaita said that the Dubai Police forensic experts have successfully employed forensic biometrics systems to overcome and face the hurdles that affect faceprints while finding the accused wearing face masks during the outbreak of COVID-19.

In addition, “the combination of the artificial intelligence systems with forensic biometrics systems have emerged as a proven way to increase effectiveness and results of the and aided the cases in revealing important factors and proofs that acquitted suspects and condemned others”, he explained. Moreover, the officials also presented the work progress and key points that Forensic Scientists follow in their process, which read as follows,

–         International Recognition

Major General Bin Ghalaita conveyed that the General Command of the Dubai Police plays a significant role in applying multiple biometrics techniques to analyze physical forensic proofs among police agencies at the global level. 

The Association of International Police Chiefs) IACP Award, as a recognition in the year 2020 for inventing the multi-model of fingerprints technology, has also been given to the Forensic Biometric department, most notably the forensic gait analysis, i.e. a person’s pattern of movement.

–         Visual Evidence Analysis

Furthermore, the Director of the Video and Image Evidence Examination Section at the Forensic E-Evidence Department, Lieutenant Colonel Hamad Mansoor Al Awar, said that the primary operations are focused on extracting electronic proof from the crime scene’s belongings related to the concerned people. 

In some cases, which include visual film materials, they compare the forensic biometrics seen in the graphic materials and those of suspects.

In his statement, Colonel Hamad stated, “The department used to be dependent on a technological instrument earlier that only focused on analyzing faceprints as per the measurements of the face. 

However, the introduction of fingerprints and DNA trace systems was not usually present in crime locations. Thus, the technology would become incapable of revealing solid proofs when a potential criminal hid their faces, or wore masks, and located too far from the security cameras, or the crime scene had poor lighting.”

–         Five Key Biometrics

Al Awar said that they analyze visual traces for a variety of forensic biometrics, which includes face prints, gait patterns, ear prints, and hand prints, along with structural body measurement, to help investigators and ultimately serve the interest of the criminal justice system.

–         Convicting Suspects

Dr Al Awar revealed that analyzing forensic-gait examination and body evaluation has immensely helped to find a man taking a new identity in a women’s abaya (full-length garment of women) and niqab to break into a flat and steal 12 million dirhams. 

“After monitoring CCTV cameras from the location, the experts found that the body measurements and gait patterns in the recording are identical in a conclusive manner as per the accused”, he added. 

In some other cases, Dr Al Awar conveyed that they have managed to put a convicted behind bars despite his attempt to change his facial measurements by matching his hand-print, gait patterns, physical measurements, and ear print to the visual evidence collected from the crime scene CCTV.

–         Local & International Benchmark

 In the end, Colonel Al Awar said that the technological growth in analyzing electronic forensic proofs prompted local and international police forces to seek Dubai Police’s expertise and assistance in comparing multiple forensic biometrics.