New Dubai police forensics lab stays one step ahead

Dubai Police's new forensics laboratory being built at a cost of $100 million (Dh367.28 million) is expected to be operational by the end of the year.

The four-storey building will cover an area of 400,000 square feet and consist of three main sections and two sub-sections, said Colonel Fahd Al Mutawa, director of the Forensic Science and Criminology Department at Dubai Police.

The first Dubai Police Forensics lab was established more than 28 years ago.

The new building has been designed after years of touring the world's top police forensics labs and closely studying investigative methods.

Explaining the need for the advanced facility, Col. Al Mutawa said it was vital for the police to invest in sophisticated investigative tools at a time when criminal activities are getting more complicated.

"In 1981, there were a total of two cases that needed forensics and the number increased to only five in 1982, most of which were questioned documents relating to cases of fake cheques,” he said.

"Now we work on thousands of reports,” he said. "For instance, in 2014, there were 35,000 reports.”

The current lab has been developed over the years to accommodate the growing volume of cases. "There are 570 people working in the forensics department, and the number is expected to increase by 20 per cent when the new building opens,” Col. Al Mutawa said.

The forensics lab supports Dubai Police's other departments such as the Criminal Investigation Department and the Anti-Narcotics Department besides producing high-quality technical reports for the courts.

Col. Al Mutawa said: "99.9 per cent of our reports are accepted by the courts.”

The Dubai Police forensics lab also accepts cases from police departments of other emirates.

The current lab has 56 accredited procedures that are in accordance with the international ISO 17025 standard and, by the end of September, this number is set to increase to 95.

"The accreditations have been approved by the Dubai Accreditation Centre [DAC] and meet the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation [ILAC],” he said.

Col. Al Mutawa added that the Dubai Police leadership had years ago envisioned a new forensics lab matching up to international standards complete with all forensics disciplines and staffed by highly qualified staff.

"The idea came from the Dubai Police Headquarters that the lab should be a separate entity, which shows the transparency of Dubai Police's work,” he said.

How the idea originated

Col. Al Mutawa recalled how it was decided in February 2008 that a select committee should visit the top forensics labs around the world to take on board the latest in technology and stay up with international standards in investigative protocol.

"We visited the FBI labs in Virginia, Indianapolis and also California, we visited the Forensic Science Service (FSS) in London, The Bundeskriminalamt (BKA) in Germany, Netherlands Forensic Institute (NFI) in Hague,” said Dr Fuad Tarbah, Senior Forensic Toxicologist and Director of Training, Research and Development Department, at Dubai Police's Forensics Science and Criminology Department.

The trip allowed the committee to analyse the advantages and disadvantages of top forensics facilities around the world, enabling them to structure a future plan for Dubai Police's new forensics wing, Dr Tarbah said.

The new forensics laboratory, he said, covers most of the forensics specialties in addition to a complete forensics institute that offers high-quality programmes and certified training. "The institute will have partnerships with recognised international institutes in the field of forensics.”

The new forensics lab will be equipped with the latest and most sophisticated instruments and technology.

The new building will include classic forensics departments such as forensic biology and DNA, forensic chemistry, forensic toxicology, trace evidence and post-bomb and explosives, tool-marks and firearms, questioned documents, digital forensics and computer crime, voice analysis, forensic video and photography, fire and arson investigation and fingerprint.

In addition, Dubai Police are looking to add new disciplines to the forensics department, such as forensic engineering, nuclear physics department and forensic accounting. These departments will become bigger once the new building is open.

Dr Tarbah said that another new department, which happens to be the only one of its kind in the Arab region, is the criminology and profiling department. The department uses forensic psychology analysis in interviewing victims to extract hidden information that can help the authorities uncover a crime. The forensic medicine department will remain a separate building, as will the Dubai Police K9 unit.

New divisions include Material Science — which includes metallurgy — something that was previously only available in Dubai Municipality.

The pre-existing Department of Training and Development, which carries out international proficiency tests and provides more than 146 internal proficiency tests for all staff, will also be housed in the new building.

"The department also provides more than 60 training programmes and workshops for more than 406 staff members in the field of forensics,” he said.

To ensure that its experts are keeping up with international trends and to meet quality requirements, the Forensics department has a continued education programme, where each scientist needs to complete a requirement of 50 training hours each year.

The Dubai Police Forensics Department also engages in a continuous exchange of knowledge with international labs such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation's BKA and NFI, to name a few.

The new facility is being built taking into consideration any expansion needs until 2025. "There are sections of the buildings closed off as they are not needed now, so in the future, if need be, we can expand into it.” Dr Tarbah said.

"We are also open to discussing the results and processes with the people involved and we want the public to know that there is an independent institute that protects their rights by treating physical evidence according to international standards,” he said.