Lessons to be learnt from a Dubai murder

Lessons to be learnt from a Dubai murder
Business Times Sunday, February 28, 2010, 09.21 AM

The January 20 murder of Hamas senior military commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh is still in the news, more than a month after his apparent assassination by professional hitmen.

The team of at least 11 people employed disguises, fake passports, and sophisticated communication equipment. The murder, believed to have been committed through electrocution and suffocation, has drawn condemnation from many countries. Mossad, Israel's spy agency, remains the prime suspect. Several arrests have been made but experts believe the killers will be difficult to find.

The case gained traction in cyberspace when Dubai police released a video comprising CCTV footage that retraced the steps taken by suspects from the moment they arrived at the airport until they fled the country after the crime. The video has been posted on YouTube, twitter, and promoted on various blogs.

Several thoughts come to mind after viewing this evidence. The first is that Dubai may need to evaluate and restructure its relatively open immigration practices. Screen visitors more closely and ask them more questions, for example.

According to reports, this is not the first high-profile international assassination in Dubai in recent years. In March 2009, former Chechen military commander Sulim Yamadayev was shot dead at a parking garage in the city. In 2008, Lebanese pop star Suzanne Tamim was stabbed to death in her apartment.

Another observation about the video is the high quality of CCTV footage. Images are very clear and sharp, whether it involves scenes from the airport, hotels, or a shopping mall where the suspects gathered to meet and make preparations. This is in stark contrast to the grainy and blurred CCTV footage we are used to seeing here, where even faces and licence plates are hard to make out.

Often such images have to be sent to experts to be further enhanced if they are to be of any use to enforcement of law. If such high quality video equipment is available, perhaps it is time to upgrade the outdated cameras we have in place, especially in strategic areas like airports, hotels, and banks. There's no point to have surveillance cameras if in the end, you're not going to see anything worthwhile.

The third lesson from the video is that transparency pays. The police could have easily called a press conference and just announced their findings. But to actually show the evidence makes it more credible and believable. And the fact that Dubai police managed to solve the case in such a short time only boosts their reputation and gains respect for their professionalism.

This could be emulated not only by law enforcement in other countries, but also any organisation that finds it difficult to get its message across or prove a point to the public. Don't just tell people what you have done or achieved - show it to them.