A German couple who had their bag stolen at the beach had to walk home in their bathing suits.
Connie and Peter Boyne, residents of Umm Suqueim, were without money, car keys and house keys after swimming at the open beach near the Jumeirah Beach Hotel.
"We had no phone, no money, no keys. The rescue team told us to ring the patrolling police, but with no phone we couldn't do that," Connie said.
"Apparently, the patrolling police are different from the rescue team. They told us we had to find a patrol car. We did and they told us to go back to the lifeguard tower and call 999.
"Once the police arrived, we asked them if they could drop us home because we had no money. My husband and I were in our swim suits, but they refused.
"Luckily, we live in Umm Suqueim so my husband could walk home - but in his swimming trunks," she said.
"Back home in Germany, the police would have helped us more by taking us home at least. It's incredible that here we were just left stranded," Connie said. A source at Dubai police said a small number of officers are deployed along Jumeirah's coastline to look out for thieves. Their job, however, does not involve driving people home, the source said.
"If someone has something stolen, then they should call the police. The job of the lifeguards is to watch people in the water." The source said the lifeguards are only concerned about swimmers, not thieves.
"There are problems where thieves try to steal bags, so we have a group of undercover officers on beaches. They are especially for this purpose," the source said.
Tips
"People should only bring the necessary things to the beach anyway. People do not need their mobiles. Anything valuable should be left at home or locked in the car," a Dubai police source said.
"When beachgoers have things stolen it is not up to the police to take people home," the Dubai police source said.
"It is not the police's job to do this. It may be misunderstood to have people with not much on in a police car. It is our job to bring back their things, but people can take a taxi home."
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