English lessons for Sharjah police officers

SHARJAH // The emirate's police academy will start teaching English to officers. A study conducted by the academy and the Sharjah Police department of planning found officers needed help to communicate with the emirate's many nationalities. Dr Saleem al Naqbi, the director of the academy, said: "For many residents it would be discouraging to seek police services if officers could not speak English."

He said classes for officers would be divided according to their skills - beginning, moderate and advanced. Future trainees would be able to speak and write English before they graduated, he said. Majid al Zaabi, a police officer, said the new programme would be of most benefit to patrollers and officers who work in call centres, as they are most often in contact with expatriates. "Call centres mostly need bilinguals, because once an emergency call comes it would be a waste of time to have to look for a person who speaks the language," Mr al Zaabi said.

ykakande@thenational.ae