Watch: Armoured vehicles, supercars roll down Dubai streets during UAE National Day police parade

Hundreds of visitors and tourists gathered at Mohammed Bin Rashid Boulevard to witness Dubai Police's National Day parade on Tuesday. Officers from the force, students from Dubai Police Academy, the police’s musical band, motorbikes, supercars fleet, the K9 department, the Dubai Mounted Police, cars and ambulances from Civil Defence were all amongst the participating departments and units.

School children also took part in the event and the could be seen holding and waving the UAE flag. The audience took pictures and waved to police officers reciprocated the gesture and waved back at the crowd. “We are always keen on connecting with the community during different occasions,” Lieutenant General Abdullah Khalifa Al Marri, Commander-in-Chief of Dubai Police told Khaleej Times after the parade.

According to Al Marri, this is the first parade to be organised after the Covid-19 pandemic and it included different units and departments from the force, with participation from the community, including school children and those people working around the Boulevard area.

“We believe that this is a message of unity in celebration of the UAE National Day. At Dubai Police, we try to organise events such so that we can create a connection with the different segments of the society,” he said, as he gave an example of other official occasions such as the graduation of Dubai Police Academy students which will take place in February.

“We are keen on bring present,” he said.

According to Al Marri, the Boulevard is a vital area in Dubai. “We tried not to disturb people by conducting this parade. We always think of them first. We studied the flow of traffic and the timings of people’s commute, and based on that, we selected this timing and location,” he said before thanking Emaar for their continuous support.

Far from being bothered, onlookers were joyfully participating in the celebrations. Lara Al Saadi, a Palestinian-Lebanese national who was accompanied by her 2-year-old son Elias, said that she was feeling emotional about being there. “I was born here and both my kids were born here too. I received an email that it’s happening so I wanted to be here, my son is even missing his nursery to be here with me,” she said.

Heather Grounsell, a former school teacher who used to live in Dubai and is here on holiday, said that she was drying her laundry when she heard the music and hurried down to watch. “It was great to see the ambulances, dogs and the kids – I wish there were even more children,” she said, laughing.

Students from Gems Wellington Academy (Silicon Oasis) were there to see the parade. “It was really inspiring.We learnt about the UAE culture and the strength of the country's military. I loved the horses and tanks, it made me realise what a great country I’m living in,” said Nishalia Vijay Kumar, 15.

Her schoolmate, Andrew Sawiris, 10, said he feels proud to live in this country. “It really showed us what a safe country we live in. I loved how synchronised it (the parade) was, and how much effort was put in it,” he said excitedly.

Taimuraz Baetaev, Chechnya, a resident of downtown Dubai, is witnessing his first National Day celebrations in the UAE. He said that the family was asleep when they heard the sounds from the parade. He quickly went down with his three sons to see the spectacle. “We’re glad we got to see the horses and the big cars,” he said.

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