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Business News/ Mint-lounge / Features/  Dubai’s swanky police squad cars
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Dubai’s swanky police squad cars

How can the police force of a luxury city not drive luxury cars?

The Ferraris, a recent addition to Dubai’s police squad car fleet, are reserved for policewomen. Photo: Karim Sahib/AFPPremium
The Ferraris, a recent addition to Dubai’s police squad car fleet, are reserved for policewomen. Photo: Karim Sahib/AFP

I have never seen so much vroom-power in one go, and it is doing all sorts of irrational things to my heart. Unlikely as it may sound, I am at the Dubai Police car workshop where they have lined up eight of their stunners, and I am trying to keep a straight face while we discuss whether I should slide into the Lamborghini Aventador, costing a cool United Arab Emirates dirham (AED) 2 million (around 3.2 crore), or the Aston Martin One-77 Q series, which costs a mind-numbing AED 11 million (around 17.9 crore). I suppress a gasp and ask what makes this car so pricey?

Turns out there are just 77 of them, and if that wasn’t exclusive enough, only 10 of them are from the Q series. Q, as in the ingenious gadget-creating character in James Bond films, and the car I am contemplating has been specially customized in the same part of the factory where Mr Bond’s cars are. And, oh, the One-77 has the world’s most powerful naturally aspirated engine of 750 horsepower, and it zips from 0-100 kmph in under 3.7 seconds.

All pretty compelling attributes if you are a multimillionaire out on a car-shopping spree, but what are these head-turners doing in a police fleet? Brigadier Anas Al Matrooshi, who heads the transport and rescue department—interesting bit of trivia, he also speaks Hindi—explains that the role of these cars is to promote Dubai, and support the city’s bid for Expo 2020. “Dubai is a luxury city," he says. “And we are participating in it." I hadn’t thought of it like that—how can the police force of a luxury city not drive luxury cars?

And when your everyday car is a BMW 5 Series—believe it or not, that’s what the average policeman drives—then you can only up the ante by inducting super-luxury cars into the fleet. Besides the above-mentioned Lamborghini and Aston Martin, they have acquired a Ferrari FF (cost nearly AED 2 million); Bentley Continental GT (AED 1 million plus); Mercedes Benz SLS AMG with those sexy gullwing doors opening upwards (AED 1 million); BMW M6 (AED 800,000); a Ford Mustang modified by Roush (nearly AED 500,000) which is not quite in the super-luxury league, but with 565 horsepower under its bonnet, it adds some “American muscle" to the fleet. The plan is to keep expanding the super-fleet—a couple of Audi R8’s will be joining the family soon. Sweet.

What is even sweeter is that the Ferraris are reserved for policewomen. Is there a special reason they picked Ferraris for the ladies? Brig. Anas Al Matrooshi bats the question right back. “Ride in it first," he says. “Then tell me if we made the right decision." By now, I have melted to the point that I am thinking of a career change—I’d happily join the Dubai Police if only they’d take me in. “We have to look after our policewomen," he adds, and I suppose there is no better way of doing that than a Ferrari. He has 3,000 policewomen—out of a total police force of 20,000—so I am guessing a few more Ferraris may be needed.

And then he has someone switch on the police light bars—especially installed on the roof of the cars—and they pulsate hypnotically like red-blue ticker tapes. I take a deep breath and try to absorb it all—the line-up of cars is dazzling enough, specially in their green-and-white police livery, and with the lights dancing on top, it is every little boy’s dream come true. For that matter, it is sending this girl’s pulse racing too. Interestingly, the Mercedes SLS has no lights on top—when the doors flap up, there’s no room for a light bar—so for now, the red-blue lights have been placed inside along the windshield. And a special gullwing-door-friendly light bar is being designed.

There’s more police gadgetry. A dome-shaped camera—it sits on top of the light bar—with live transmission via 3G to the police operation room. Voice recording capability—if you are pulled up, the conversation is recorded—so there is complete transparency. A computer, placed above the glove compartment, which is connected to the database of the traffic department as also the criminal investigation department, to provide instant information on “wanted" number plates. And, of course, a walkie-talkie, which activates the computer.

We take a walk around the massive workshop—fully air-conditioned, brightly lit, and so clean that you could eat off the floor—that services not just the super cars, but also the entire Dubai Police fleet. I was expecting a messier workman-like setting with grease, fumes, paint stains, dirty fluids, but this spotless facility feels more like a luxury spa for cars, with jacks instead of massage tables.

The director of tourist police department, Col. Mohammad Rashed bin Seray al Muhairi, is there too, and he kills any ideas I might have had about high-speed car-chases à la Bond. The goal is to generate publicity for Dubai, so the super cars are stationed in key tourist areas—like the Burj Khalifa or Jumeirah Beach Resort—carrying out normal police work like booking fines and stopping cars, but he emphasizes, “no chasing". It would be counterproductive anyway. “If someone in a Maserati is speeding, and he finds out that a Lamborghini is coming to make a fine, then I think he will be pleased," he says. He has a point, but the idea of a cop Lamborghini hot on the heels of a truant Maserati is a heady one.

Brig. Anas puts it in perspective. “People say you go to Egypt, you see the Pyramids," he says. “You come to Dubai, you see police cars." I nod happily as I slip into a Lamborghini.

Radha Chadha is one of Asia’s leading marketing and consumer insight experts. She is the author of the best-selling book The Cult of the Luxury Brand: Inside Asia’s Love Affair With Luxury.

Also Read | Radha’s previous Lounge columns

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Published: 06 Jul 2013, 12:42 AM IST
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