Dubai unveils a smart police car that catches Visa offenders

By Matthew Griffin Security and Privacy 27th October 2025

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF

Many people worry about technology’s surveillance capabilities – now all that’s been stuffed into a police car.

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You may not see it, but a new car on UAE roads could be watching you. The Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Ports Security (ICP) is launching a fully electric “smart inspection car” designed to identify visa and residency violations.

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The vehicle is equipped with six cameras placed around its body, giving it full 360-degree coverage. It can capture facial images of people within roughly 10 metres of the car. The system integrates with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and a bespoke dashboard to present heat maps and alerts in real time, said Faris Almaeeni, Foreign Affairs Systems Department Manager, ICP.

“It’s fully electrical. It has its own dashboard, and it’s working with the AI, so it gives you some heat maps,” he said.

Though highly automated in its sensing and analytic functions, the car is not driverless. Officers will drive it as part of their routine patrols and review flagged individuals on screen.

“This is not fully automated,” he clarified.

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ICP plans to deploy the first units in early 2026. The rollout will begin within Dubai before expanding to other emirates.

When the car detects a potential violation, such as someone whose residency status is expired or unlawful, the procedure does not end at the dashboard. An officer will approach the person, verify their documents, and attempt to resolve the situation through standard legal channels.

“The officer will go down and he will speak with him, and they will try to solve his issue with the being illegal in UAE,” Almaeeni said.

The smart car is one of several new tech initiatives launched by ICP at Gitex 2025 as part of a broader push to digitalise inspection and immigration functions.

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The plan comes amid heightened enforcement activity: in the first half of 2025, the ICP flagged over 32,000 visa violations, including overstays and unlawful employment.

If successful, the smart inspection car could accelerate detection, cut down field-manual verification time, and allow faster response in violation cases.

Matthew Griffin / About Author

Described by NASA as a "Walking Encyclopaedia of the Future" and one of the world’s most in demand keynote speakers Matthew Griffin, Founder and Futurist in Chief of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures advisory firm, is a multi-award winning Futurist and strategic foresight expert, author, lecturer, mentor, podcast and YouTube host.

With a distinguished career running global business units at Atos, EMC, and IBM today Matthew helps leaders and titans of industry from all over the world explore the impact of the inter sections of technology, culture, and leadership, then helps them create high performance organisations that can continuously disrupt, outpace, and outthink their competition.

15 times author of the hit series the Codex of the Future series Matthew's ability to identify, track, and explain the impacts of hundreds of emerging technologies and trends on global business, culture, and society has earned him a powerful reputation and a roster of clients that include royal households, world leaders across the G7, G20, and G77, and many of the world's most recognised and exceptional organisations including ABB, Accenture, ABN Amro, Adidas, AON, ARM, BCG, Centrica, Citi Group, Coca Cola, Deloitte, Dentons, Disney, Dow, EY, Google, KPMG, Lego, Microsoft, Legal & General, LinkedIn, Nokia, Paramount, PepsiCo, PWC, Qualcomm, RWE, Samsung, T-Mobile, UBS, Visa, WIRED, WPP and hundreds of others.

Matthew is regularly featured in the global media including the AP, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Discovery, Forbes, Khaleej Times, Telegraph, TIME, ViacomCBS, WIRED, and the WSJ, and his mission is to help organisations create a fair and sustainable future whose benefits are shared by everyone irrespective of their ability, background, or circumstances.