Dubai Police conclude 2024 Children’s Summer Programme

Dubai Police marked the end of the 2024 Children’s Summer Programme with a graduation ceremony on Thursday.

The month-long, annual initiative sees the participation of hundreds of students, training them in police exercises and formations, self-defence, and cybersecurity.

“The summer course aims to raise the sense of security among students and [enhance] their awareness of the dangers of the challenges they may face- whether it is drug abuse, bullying, or electronic provocation,” Colonel Dr. Abdul Rahman Sharaf Al Maamari, Director of Hemaya International Center in the General Department of Anti-Narcotics at Dubai Police told the ARN News Centre.

“[It] has led to a reduction in the number of problems, according to the monitoring indicators we have in the General Command,” Colonel Dr. Abdul Rahman Sharaf Al Maamari added.

Many of the students who spoke to the ARN News Centre praised the programme, emphasising its long-term benefits.

“What we do here in this programme- they boost your confidence, and mostly, they teach you how to be social. So it's very good for our future life when we're gonna be participating in any job, we're gonna know how to communicate with others,” Shamma Rashid al-Tamimi, Programme Graduate and Class Speaker, told the ARN News Centre.

The training is not limited to Emirati nationals, allowing students from more than 100 nationalities to participate in the programme since it began in 2018.

“So, at first, I was chosen for my school to do like some marching band, and then I've been in this program for like 4 or 5 years,” Jin Shain Zhao, 2024 Programme Graduate said.

When asked if he was inspired to join a police force in the future, Jin Shain Zhao said learning the fundamentals of law enforcement and their different departments has made that a viable option.

The annual training is part of a national programme conducted in other emirates.