Police response time to road accidents drops to 12 minutes

The average time it takes Dubai Police to respond to a minor traffic crash fell from 43 minutes to 12 minutes last year.

Dubai - December 26, 2009 - Police set an exit sign upright after the driver of this car missed a turn on Airport Road and drove up this flyover embankment in Dubai, December 26, 2009. The driver was not injured. (Photo by Jeff Topping/The National)
  *** Local Caption ***  JT004-1226-CAR STUCK ACCIDENT_MG_9062.jpg
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DUBAI // The average time it takes Dubai Police to respond to a minor traffic crash fell from 43 minutes to 12 minutes last year.

The improvement was the result of a partnership between Dubai Police General Headquarters and the Dubai Model Centre for Government Services (DMC).

An 11-member police team lead by Maj Gen Abdul Qudoos Al Obeidly, director of quality management, worked with a team from the DMC on a strategy to improve the response time.

The team began by conducting surveys and gathering information, which revealed a reduction in public satisfaction was linked to the time it takes to register a report of a fender-bender, the number of visits taken to the police station and the time it takes to complete the process.

The team also found the public had limited knowledge of how the police should respond to minor accidents, in terms of equality in treatment of customers, responding to queries and presenting accurate information in their reports.

Field visits to police stations revealed there were no officers available at reception and fewer than three officers at customer service desks. A lack of electronic privileges also prevented those officers from serving the public effectively.

"After various meetings and brainstorming sessions, the joint team delivered and implemented their plan," said Dr Wafa Abu Snaineh, adviser to the DMC.

The next step was to devise a training programme and hold workshops with officers.

The results of the workshops where circulated to all involved parties in the force, and police released a service charter to the public to educate them on the new developments.

An evaluation of the responding officers showed a 41 per cent increase in their knowledge of procedures.

By June 2011, response time had dropped from 43 minutes to 12 and the time it took to complete paperwork related to a minor accident had dropped from 25 minutes to 13.

amustafa@thenational.ae