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Dubai Police to teach kids diving, first-aid and online gaming safety this summer
Annual summer camps draw 145,000 registrations across eight centres as force expands curriculum to include PADI certified diving, first aid, and cyber awareness
- PUBLISHED: Thu 2 Jul 2026, 3:56 PM
From learning to dive in open water to practicing first aid and understanding the dangers lurking inside online games, Dubai Police is offering students one of its most ambitious summer programmes.
The force’s annual training camps, running across eight centres in Dubai and Hatta, will welcome 1,400 male and female students this year drawn from 31 nationalities as part of a push to equip the next generation with skills that go far beyond the classroom.
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The programme, which has been running since the 1990s began as a military-focused initiative for a select group of students has grown into a broad, community-wide effort that spans government and private schools, multiple nationalities, and a curriculum that now blends physical training with cyber safety, emergency response, and criminal awareness. This year, registrations surged to an unprecedented 145,000, with some centres closing their books on the very first day.
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“The direction has always been clear to attract students from all nationalities,” Brigadier Dr Abdul Rahman Sharif Al Maamari, Director of the International Hemaya Centre said at a press briefing Thursday. “We have students from 31 nationalities this year, including young people whose families are based here but who study abroad, and who specifically come back to Dubai for this programme because they cannot get this kind of military training anywhere else.”
Eight centres, 80 courses
The programme operates across eight police training centres in Dubai and Hatta, offering approximately 80 specialised courses. For the first time, each centre has been given its own dedicated page on a newly launched website, which also introduced a digital profile system.
No student is accepted without a complete profile, and parents receive real-time attendance notifications, daily activity photographs, and are required to give explicit consent before their child participates in any field visit.
For the first time this year, a Little Paramedic course introduces basic first aid in a hands-on setting. The 901 Call Centre Experience gives students a behind-the-scenes look at emergency response operations, while the Future Officer Project takes participants on field visits to police stations to observe law enforcement in action.
Diving into the deep end
One of the most popular courses is the Open Water Diving programme, run by Dubai Police’s General Department of Traffic and Patrols. Students who complete the course receive an internationally recognised certification from PADI, the world’s leading scuba diving training organisation. The course is open to participants aged 14 and above, and graduates are eligible to dive anywhere in the world using their license.
Alongside diving, the swimming skills course teaches students every fundamental technique, from freestyle to backstroke, with the broader goal of reducing drowning incidents a concern officials highlighted in the context of unsupervised home environments during summer holidays.
Teaching kids to think like detectives
The Conscious Detective course run by the General Department of Criminal Investigation is designed to sharpen students’ five senses and situational awareness. Workshops cover how to identify fraud, respond to suspicious phone calls, and navigate the risks of online gaming, where children are often targeted by strangers through in-game chat functions.
"Children need to be psychologically resilient,” said Brigadier Dr Abdul Rahman. “They need to know how to behave, how to report situations they encounter, and who to turn to. We want this awareness to be built in from an early age.”
A practical highlight of the course is a field visit to the e-Crime room, where students observe how cybercrime is handled in real time. Students also visit the 901 emergency call centre a deliberate effort to address a common fear among young people who worry they will get into trouble for calling the police.
“Some students have a phobia about calling 911,” Brigadier Dr Abdul Rahman said. “We take them into the room, let them experience the environment, and show them the level of privacy and professionalism. After that, they are no longer afraid.”
First aid for the first time
New to this year’s programme is the Little Paramedic course, developed in partnership with Dubai’s unified ambulance centre. Students are trained in basic first aid techniques and practice on real scenarios, rather than simply watching demonstrations.
“Today, if a student goes home and faces a medical emergency, they are equipped to act,” Brigadier Dr Abdul Rahman said. “That is what makes this course special they are not just learning theory, they are practicing the role.”
Discipline in the digital age
Alongside the specialised courses, the military training component remains central to the programme’s identity. Officials described it as the element that produces the most visible behavioural change in students, instilling discipline, punctuality, and a sense of collective responsibility.
Part of that responsibility extends to how students use their phones. The programme explicitly teaches students that photographing peers and publishing images on social media without consent is not only disrespectful but carries legal consequences.
“We teach them what happens when you post a photo without permission, when you spread false information, and how to handle their mobile phones without putting themselves or others at risk,” Brigadier Dr Abdul Rahman said. “This is how we teach them the law not in a classroom, but by living it.”
Ruqayya Alqaydi is a Special Correspondent with an endless curiosity to learn. Like a journalist on a caffeine overdrive, she is fuelled by passion and on a mission to uncover every gem in the UAE.