Portrait of a Nation: Lt Col Suwaidi, dean of Dubai Police Academy

As the new dean of the Dubai Police Academy, Lt Col Saif Ghanem Al Suwaidi views it as an honour to serve a country that has given him so much. At home he is equally dedicated to being a family man raising his four children.

Lt Col Saif Ghanem Al Suwaidi, new dean of the Dubai Police Academy. Anna Nielsen for The National

Lt Col Saif Ghanem Al Suwaidi, the new dean of the Dubai Police Academy, prides himself on being an educator and a family man.

The father of four said it was an honour to serve his country and to contribute to society by leading the academy he graduated from in 1996.

“I was the top of my class in school and the teacher would ask what I wanted to do. I would say that I wanted to join the army,” he said.

“The decision to enter the police academy was simple. When you enter this institution you are not only guaranteed an education but a job afterwards. You graduate and you are immediately an officer.

“When people enter universities, they still have to look for a job. Students here do not have that issue.”

After graduating from the academy where he placed third out of more than 80 cadets, Dubai Police offered him an opportunity to study abroad and get his masters degree in international law from the University of Nottingham in England.

“I studied English at the University of Cambridge for eight months and then received an acceptance into the University of Nottingham,” he said. “I received my masters degree in one year. It was a very intensive programme.”

The young officer later returned briefly to the UAE and, in 2001, he went to Aberystwyth University, in Wales, where he received a PhD in international law.

Four years later, he returned to the Dubai Police Academy as a lecturer and held a number of positions in different departments.

In 2013, he became an assistant professor before being appointed dean in March.

Lt Col Al Suwaidi praised his parents, whom he said played a key role in making him the man he was today.

“The achievements of a son are always due to his parents,” he said. “My mother, who did not know how to read or write, would sit down and insist on watching us six children with an open book.

“She wouldn’t even know if we were actually studying but she made sure we did.”

A sense of family is something that is ingrained in Lt Col Al Suwaidi and that is why when the 40-year-old arrives home he becomes the family man.

“I am an officer now, and I am at all times, but when I go home I am a husband and a father,” said Lt Col Al Suwaidi, who has been married for 15 years.

“If I have work to do in the evenings I excuse myself for a little while. Saturday is always family day, and we go out as a family.”

With his new appointment, he said that one of his main goals now was to make the academy among the top-ranked schools in the world.

A big step was its recent qualification for an internationally recognised university ranking system.

The police training institution has been validated by QS University Rankings in the Arab region. Its ranking will be published next month, when the QS will announce the top-100 schools in the Arab world.

Ranking analysis for the academy has yet to be completed.

Lt Col Al Suwaidi said the school had already taken the first step and applied to be considered in a world-ranking system.

He noted that the academy would have 14 programmes in total by September. “I feel like one of the most important services is being able to provide an education, which is the guarantee of nations,” he said.

“My honour lies in teaching and my hope, God willing, is to hold a position in the Ministry of Education where you can make your mark and make a change on a big scale.

“I am also honoured to contribute to the security services of the nation, being a legal consultant for Dubai as well as on a federal level sometimes.”

Lt Col Al Suwaidi reiterated the sentiment of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, that the people of his emirate were one family.

“A message I would like to get across to the people, and as Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid says, whether you are a citizen or a resident, we are one family,” he said. “We hope that people are content with Dubai’s work for a safe and secure country, and our doors are always open.”