LOCAL

Florida SWAT teams' trip to Dubai questioned

Ben Conarck
benjamin.conarck@jacksonville.com
Members of the Flagler County Sheriff's Office SWAT Team pose for a picture with Sheriff Rick Staly at a competition in Dubai hosted by the United Arab Emirates government. [Photo provided by the Flagler County Sheriff's Office]

The United Arab Emirates’ record on human rights abuses and arresting dissidents has drawn criticism from the international community and the U.S. Department of State. But that didn’t stop three Florida sheriff’s office SWAT teams from attending a nearly two-week competition there earlier this month.

Dubai police have come under criticism for arresting people for posting videos to social media that are critical of the government or otherwise deemed offensive. Undeterred, sheriff’s offices from Flagler, Alachua, and Osceola counties — along with the New York Police Department — recently flew to Dubai to learn from those police agencies on trips subsidized by the UAE’s Interior Ministry.

The three Florida agencies and the NYPD were the only four American law enforcement agencies invited to the competition, which stretched from Feb. 4-14, according to the event’s agenda.

The “SWAT Challenge” had all the hallmarks of a propaganda campaign.

"Dubai Police have enjoyed a reputation for being a leader in law enforcement, highly effective across all spectrums of law and order, protection, control and maintenance of order,” the event website said. “Besides Dubai’s pursuit of the most advanced technology in crime prevention, policing and forensics, the Dubai SWAT team is a tactical force of strategy and endurance that ranks with the world’s best.”

To that end, the Dubai Police, who were hosting the event, finished in first or second place in four out of the five challenges. On the first day of the event, the Dubai Police’s “A” and “B” teams finished in first and second place, respectively.

The event organizers did not respond to an email asking for more details about why the Florida sheriff’s offices were chosen for the competition.

The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office publicized the trip on social media and press releases, saying its team competed in training scenarios “and got a first-hand look at new tools and tactics available to agencies around the world.”

The NYPD would not confirm its participation and did not respond to an email from the Times-Union seeking further information. A detective on the department’s SWAT Team, however, was interviewed by UAE-based media. He told Gulf News his team trained for a month in preparation for the competition.

The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office did not respond to questions emailed to the public information office about the trip.

The Alachua County Sheriff’s Office told the Times-Union that the Dubai Police covered all expenses for the team to include travel, lodging, meals and “things needed for the competition.”

“The only expense we had was we paid the daily wages of the deputies involved and for travel insurance,” said Public Information Officer Art Forgey.

In response to several questions about the United Arab Emirates’ record of human rights abuses and the Dubai Police’s history of arresting people for criticizing the government, Forgey said the Sheriff’s Office spoke with the FBI prior to the trip, and the agency had no concerns about it.

“We felt honored to be selected and asked to participate in such a prestigious event,” Forgey said. “We did not attend for any reason but to make our team better and see how we rate against the best in the world. Politics played no part in our decision, it was simply to benefit our training and showcase our talent.”

In its press release, the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office said Sheriff Rick Staly “personally met with the Dubai Police Chief and Deputy Prime Minister Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan.”

“He also learned how Dubai Police serve their community, which is significantly different than American policing and extensively uses advanced technology and does not use traditional patrols,” the sheriff’s public information officer said.

Dubai is blanketed with thousands of surveillance cameras that are connected to a central command center that uses artificial intelligence and facial recognition to monitor civilians.

The U.S. Department of State in 2017 released an extensive report on human rights conditions in the UAE, which included entire sections about arbitrary arrests and the treatment of detainees, particularly those who were accused of defaming the government on social media.

“There were reports the government committed arrests without informing the individual of the charge, notably in cases of alleged violations of state security regulations,” the report said. “In these cases, authorities did not give notice to the individual or to family members regarding the subject of the inquiry or arrest.”

One case in particular has raised the hackles of human rights organizations and was included in the report: pro-democracy activist Ahmed Mansoor, who was arrested at his family home and charged with violating cyber crimes laws because of social media posts the government said “promoted false information.”

“According to human rights organizations, Mansoor was being held in solitary confinement without access to lawyers,” the human rights report stated.

In October, the United Arab Emirates gifted $2.8 million to the city of Jacksonville in a grant that city officials to repair a park, fund school programs, and assist the homeless in “underserved” areas. Two city council members wanted to return the gift, which a candidate for local office described as “blood money.”

The Times-Union has requested documentation of any expenses associated with the trip from the three Florida sheriff’s offices.

FlaglerLive.com reported earlier this month that Flagler Sheriff Staly acknowledged a “small cost” associated with the trip borne out of covering shifts for absent employees. The Flagler Sheriff’s Office did not respond to repeated requests for comment or answer questions submitted in writing to the public information office.

The SWAT teams competed for cash prizes totaling $170,000 at the event, according to Gulf News.