Dubai Police just swapped their Lambos for a BYD
'Smart patrols' and AI-powered policing could be a prelude to autonomous crime fightingDubai Police have unveiled the second generation of their "Ghiath" (Arabic for ‘rescuer’) smart patrol fleet, and the big reveal is... a plug-in hybrid.
The high-profile Middle-Eastern police force once famous for chasing speedsters in a Lamborghini Aventador, a Mansory-tuned Rolls-Royce Cullinan and a BMW i8 has thrown its lot in with the DENZA B8, a BYD-built PHEV with roughly the street cred of a Toyota Camry company car.
Dubai Police and Al-Futtaim, BYD's exclusive UAE distributor, signed off on the partnership with all the pomp of a state visit, complete with a Memorandum of Understanding and enough Major Generals to field a small army.
Lieutenant General Abdulla Khalifa Al Marri declared the force intends to stay among the “world's leading police organisations” by kitting out patrols with the latest crime-fighting tech, while the deal is being sold as a way to build “…a smarter, more efficient and more sustainable security transport ecosystem”.
But read between the press-release lines – AI, smart systems, next-gen tech – and it's not a huge leap to imagine a fleet of self-driving Denzas quietly boxing in a stolen Bugatti on Sheikh Zayed Road with zero human input.
Meanwhile, back in Australia, our own thin blue line is having a rather more modest identity crisis. See below for the full list of cars used by various Australian state and territorial police forces.
Most states lean on ‘humble’ BMW 5 Series and 3 Series sedans. Fancy but hardly supercar territory.
Except New South Wales, which every so often wheels out genuine $200,000-plus performance cars like this Porsche 911 purely for road-safety deterrence, proving Australia is still happy to match Dubai on a technicality.
So while Dubai trades exotic V10s for hybrid sedans in the name of sustainability and AI-upskilling, Australian cops occasionally borrow a supercar just to remind hoons what they're up against.
Progress, it turns out, doesn't always mean going faster… sometimes it means going smarter.
Australian police force vehicle fleets
New South Wales
- General Duties: Volkswagen Passat?and?Hyundai Sonata
- Highway Patrol:?BMW 530d?sedan and?BMW X5?SUV
- Divisional Vans:?Isuzu D-Max?and?Ford Ranger
- Specialty:?Trialling electric vehicles like the Hyundai IONIQ 6
Victoria
- General Duties:?Volkswagen Tiguan,?Hyundai Palisade, and?Toyota HiLux
- Highway Patrol:?BMW 530d,?BMW X5, and specialist?BMW M3 Competition
- Support & Off-Road: Ford Everest V6
- Divisional Vans: Ford Ranger
Queensland
- General Duties:?Toyota Camry Hybrid
- Highway Patrol:?Kia Stinger?and?Kia EV6
- Divisional Vans: Isuzu D-MAX
- Priority Response:?Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series, with an expanding green fleet that includes the MG HS Plus
Western Australia (WA)
- General Duties:?Skoda Superb,?Volkswagen Tiguan and?Kia Sorento
- Highway Patrol:?Kia Stinger
- Specialty:?Toyota Kluger,?Toyota HiLux, and BMW X5
South Australia
- General Duties:?Kia Sorento,?Toyota RAV4,?Volkswagen Tiguan, and?Subaru Outback
- Regional/Patrol:?Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series,?Ford Ranger, and?Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series
- Divisional Vans: Isuzu D-MAX
Northern Territory
- Traffic Operations:?Customized Subaru WRX
- General/Remote Duties:?Toyota LandCruiser 70 and 300 Series, Toyota HiLux
Tasmania & ACT
- Tasmania: BMW 3 Series and Ford Everest
- ACT:?Features a mix of?Volkswagen Passat?sedans and wagons, along with?BMW?patrol vehicles
Related: Honda Civic Type R joins the NSW Police Force
Related: Kia Stinger Police Car Copping Attention
Related: Police testing Polestar-tuned Volvo
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