Sharjah: Sharjah Police, through its Community Protection and Prevention Department, joined hands with the Sharjah Department of Islamic Affairs to run a training workshop centred on the Community Voice programme. The session was never just a box-ticking exercise — it grew out of a genuine, shared belief between the two bodies that real security starts with people and that a community which understands its role in keeping itself safe is far stronger than one that simply waits to be protected.
Senior officials from both organisations participated in the workshop, including Dr Issa Saif Ahmed bin Hanzal, Director General of the Department of Islamic Affairs and Endowments; and Brigadier Ahmed Mohammed Al Marri, Director of the Community Protection and Prevention Department at Sharjah Police. Both leaders praised such initiatives, saying they were key to advancing inter-institutional cooperation and serving the wider public good.

Programme objectives
The workshop introduced the Community Voice programme, a public initiative to involve the public and everyday residents in the security system of Sharjah. The programme shifts from the concept of policing as a top-down function to empowering community members to identify and report undesirable social phenomena through structured, professional channels, with the expectation of faster response times, less harm, and an improved quality of daily life.

Training in practice
Participants were trained in field observation techniques, as well as in how to document and write community reports clearly and consistently. Participants also learned how to operate the electronic platform designed specifically for the programme. They gained a clear understanding of how to easily log and submit reports. It was a practical, step-by-step approach so that by the end of the session, nobody was left in any doubt about what to do if they saw something that was worth flagging.

Mosques: A bridge to community
“Mosques and their congregations have a special trusted position in residential neighbourhoods,” said Brigadier Al Marri, underscoring the reasoning behind working with the Department of Islamic Affairs. The Community Voice programme, he said, was a tangible expression of shared responsibility, recasting residents as genuine partners in advancing peace and stability, rather than just consumers of security services.

Vision of Sharjah
For Brigadier Al Marri, the workshops are more than just a training session. “It takes time and persistent effort to cultivate genuine investment in public safety in community institutions,” he said. This kind of grassroots participation is exactly what Sharjah has always championed. The vision of the emirate, he said, has always been about supporting one another, and initiatives like Community Voice are helping to make that a reality.