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Dubai Police have plans to install thousands of cameras in the city’s top tourist areas
1 February 2018
| Last updated on 14 January 2020
If you thought Dubai was already safe enough, think again. As now, the Dubai Police have revealed a plan, called Oyoon, to install tens of thousands of high-tech surveillance cameras throughout the city.
The plans are part of preparation for Expo 2020, and the cameras will have facial recognition software to help Dubai Police identify potential criminals.
If an individual is suspected of wrongdoing, the cameras will also be able to issue a verbal warning.
"Criminal activity-related cameras will capture footage of people involved in crimes, recognise their faces and analyses the crime,” said Brig Jamal Al Muhairi, deputy director of administrative affairs at Dubai Police told The National.
“Of those criminal activity-related cameras, microphones will be connected to cameras to warn criminals. If a person is trying to steal, for example, a voice message from the microphone will tell the person that he or she is being watched by policemen.”
The new Oyoon project is to be implanted throughout 2018 and 2019.
The need for the heightened security is understandable, with the Expo 2020 just 2 years away – which will see a significant increase in footfall to the city and country overall. And it’s Dubai’s tourist destinations that will be under heavy surveillance.
The cameras won’t just be scanning pedestrians
It won’t just be potential criminals who will need to behave, too – as the cameras will have in-built license plate readers that will be able to monitor and record reckless driving.
"Through using the artificial intelligence, data and images captured by surveillance cameras will be analysed to catch violations and recognise faces,” said Brig Al Muhairi.
“For instance, anyone who violated traffic rules will not be fined by a policeman. However, his violations will be registered by cameras."
The implementation of Oyoon is just another step towards making Dubai a smart city, and is part of the Dubai government authorities plan to utilise technology to help keep millions of visitors, residents and citizens safe.
