Policewoman fined Dh1,000 for letting detainee escape

A policewoman has been fined Dh1,000 for allowing a detainee to escape after leaving her in an unlocked room without handcuffs.

DUBAI // A policewoman has been fined Dh1,000 because, during her third day on the job, a detainee escaped.

AS, 26, was charged with negligence after an elderly Iraqi fled Al Qusais Police Station last July.

In testimony before the Dubai Court of Misdemeanours in April, she denied the charge and said that the woman had been left without handcuffs in an unlocked room without her knowledge.

The young officer had been working in airport security before she was transferred to reception at Al Qusais Police Station, on July 16.

Three days later, the Iraqi detainee was brought to the police station by a fellow officer, NJ.

NJ, 32, told prosecutors that she was supposed to take the detainee to Al Muraqqabat Police Station but no patrol cars were available. At the end of the workday, a higher-ranking officer told her to hand ZM to AS.

NJ said it was part of AS's work to watch over detainees, and admitted that she did not handcuff the woman, because she was old.

AS told prosecutors: "NJ did not handcuff the detainee and left her in an unlocked room without telling me to take the detainee into custody. She just came to me with the woman and said she needed to keep her in a room behind the reception and go home as her working hours were finished."

AS said she then became distracted while answering the phones and attending to people's questions at the station.

"I looked at the detainee and she was still in the room," she said. "When I looked again, she was gone."