From first female Dubai Police officer in 1960 to women in all departments: How force has empowered thousands

Did you know that the first Emirati female cop was Tofaha Salem Khamis, who joined the Dubai Police in 1960?

"Seven years later, the female batch officially joined the force and was trained at the Dubai Police training school in Jumeirah for four months," a top police officer revealed, ahead of the Emirati Women’s Day.

Today, women helm multiple roles within the force. The Dubai Police shared photos of their female officers in action across departments. This one shows an officer of the Crime Scene Department:

Here is an officer in the police’s K9 unit:

Yet another shows the force’s first female horseback patrol officer:

And here is one of luxury patrol officers:

Happiness rates up

Major Anoud Al Saadi, chairperson of the Dubai Police Women's Council, said since its establishment in 2017, the council has spared no effort towards promoting women's “full involvement and ensuring their happiness in the workplace”.

Women's happiness in the workplace index has increased from 88.2 per cent in 2018 to 98 per cent in 2021. The council won an international award for quality management EFQM in the ‘Diversity, Inclusion and Gender Equality’ category in 2021.

"The Dubai Police Women's Council also won the 'Best Entity' Award from the Future Workplace in 2021 for developing its Women's Leadership Programme. We also won the 'Best Entity' award from the Middle East Women Leaders Institute in 2020 for developing and supporting women's talents. Moreover, the council received the Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Motherhood and Childhood Award in 2018, in the category of People of Determination,” Maj. Al Saadi added.

The force had set three strategic objectives to define directions for the Women's Council to ensure diversity, inclusiveness and gender equality. These include increasing women's participation, introducing the legislative and institutional framework to support women, and developing a spirit of belonging, leadership and responsibility.

The council has carried out several events and initiatives, benefitting more than 7,500 women officers and employees.

Scholarships

The Dubai Police have seen a 69 per cent increase in the number of female employees who received scholarships to study inside and outside the country in the last 10 years.

Brigadier Dr Saleh Abdullah Murad, director of the Department of Human Resources, said women specialise in 73 vital fields, including criminal sciences, biological sciences, communication, law and politics, and artificial intelligence systems.

"Currently, the Dubai Police are fully sponsoring the tertiary education (masters and doctoral degrees) of 23 female employees and officers,” Brig. Murad said.

Higher studies

Major-General Dr Ghaith Ghanem Al Suwaidi, director of the Dubai Police Academy (DPA), said that since 2016, the academy has opened its doors to women to obtain bachelor's degrees in ‘law and police sciences’ and in ‘security and criminal science’.

"The academy celebrated the graduation of the first and second batches of 61 female cadets during the Expo 2020 Dubai. Today, there are 88 female cadets enrolled in Bachelor of Security and Criminal Science,” he said.

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