Help fight crime, police urge firms

The UAE can better achieve security if private companies were to collaborate with the authorities, says top commander

ABU DHABI // Big businesses need to be more aware of the crimes being committed on their watch, says a senior police officer .

Companies have a greater role to play in fighting crimes such as drug smuggling through ports, said Maj Gen Mohammed Al Romaithi, commander-in-chief of Abu Dhabi Police.

“The private sector and those fighting cyber crime have taken a huge leap when it comes to providing the tools needed to combat such crimes,” he said yesterday at the Unity for Security Forum in the capital.

The forum’s participants include Interpol officials and law enforcement personnel from around the world. Maj Gen Al Romaithi also urged companies to collaborate with the police to combat smugglers who use the UAE as a transit point to other countries. He said the country would then be able to better achieve customs security.

“We need to ensure we’re doing what it takes to protect [us] from all the attacks that are coming to us from different directions,” said Maj Gen Al Romaithi.

“We live in a difficult time – not just here, but in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East – and we are not immune in the UAE.”

Peter Drennan, undersecre- tary general for safety and security at the United Nations, said some international organisations were struggling to keep up with changing challenges. “We must make them relevant and reflective of the environment in which we operate now. We have to keep pace with social, economic and political change,” he said.

According to the UN, the number of deaths arising from terror attacks in 2015 was more than 29,000. Since 2000, there have been 73,000 terrorist attacks that have killed more than 170,000 people. The global financial cost of terrorism in 2015 exceeded US$ 89 billion (Dh326.8bn).

“This is only 1 per cent of the global effect of violence,” Mr Drennan said. “The magnitude of the problem we’re dealing with is significant.

“This is just terrorism. Add to these figures of the deaths and global financial effects from armed conflicts and organised crime, and the figures are almost incomprehensible.”

Organised crime generates $ 870bn yearly. There were 40 armed conflicts globally in 2015 that resulted in 167,000 deaths and 12.1 million refugees.

“When we’re looking at organised crime, terrorism and armed conflict, we’re actually looking at the symptoms of the underlying causes,” said Mr Drennan.

“And they’re very much framed in social, political and economic factors such as high levels of poverty, lack of education, high level of youth unemployment, economic marginalisation and perceived lack of political reforms.”

Dr Abdul Latif Al Zayani, secretary general of the GCC, said there was great mistrust between different parties working in security.

“It’s when interests meet that we achieve our goals,” he said. “We need to have a holistic and systematic approach and a structure, like a GCC Interpol that we are creating now, with Gulf centres to counter narcotics and emergency crisis response that create focal points to bridge those barriers to provide a kind of trust between parties.

“Trust is important and the more we enhance it, the more we can achieve in making the world a safer place.”

The conference concludes tomorrow.

The forum’s participants include Interpol officials and law enforcement personnel from around the world