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29 March 2024

Dubai Police Forensics 'walked' thief in

Dubai Police is the first in the Middle East to use body movement identification to solve crime cases. (Supplied)

Published
By Mahra S.

Body movement identification is the latest technology in use at Dubai Police Forensic Department, which is the first police department in the Middle East to have it.

Speaking to Emirates 24|7, Dr Hamad Mansour Al Awar, Expert in Forensic Gait Analysis at the General Department of Forensic Science and Criminology, Dubai Police, said that Dubai Police was the first in the Middle East to use body movement identification to solve crime cases.

Recently, we had a robbery case where a suspect robbed Dh50,000 from a money exchange company.


“On the surveillance cameras, the suspect’s face was not clear, but police have arrested the man.

“If the face is not clear, we cannot accuse the suspect, and even the public prosecutor need definite accusations and evident.

“Thus, we did gait analysis on the suspect, and we were able to say that he was the one who robbed the money exchange firm, and helped in solving the case.”

Dr Al Awar added that body movement identifications are used in cases where monitoring cameras do not record the face of the suspects clearly.

“We have been assigned to work on a few cases where  faces are not clear.

Dr Hamad Mansour Al Awar, Expert in Forensic Gait Analysis at the General Department of Forensic Science and Criminology of Dubai Police. (Supplied)

“Thus, we have come up with three main analysis of the suspects’ movements in order to explain the reasons of accusation to Public Prosecutors.

“The first is the details of the suspect’s movement. We look at the speed of walk, joint movements details and we compare it to the suspect’s.

“In the second analysis we look at the body size of the suspect and the person on the video. We look at the hands, feet, shoulders, height, etc.

“Third, we look at the details of problems which a suspect may be suffering from.

“These problems are considered as traits, that help us in identifying suspects faster.”

He pointed out that the Gait Analysis Section has 100 per cent Emirati staff and they are working hard to train them in the best possible way.

“The Gait Analysis, which simply means body movement identification, is a new and yet-to-be-developed method in the world.

“Dubai Police was one of the first police departments in the world to send specialists to study this method.

“I am among a few people who were sent abroad to study this subject, and now, we are teaching others in the section what we have learnt.”