In image-conscious Dubai, even police patrol in luxury cars - Dubai

In this Thursday May 19, 2016 photo, Dubai police Lt. Saif Sultan Rashed al-Shamsi, who oversees the tourist police's patrol section, pushes down one of the twin scissor doors of the $140,000 BMW i8 during a demonstration in Dubai, United Arab Emirate. Police in Dubai have built up a high-horsepower arsenal of luxury sports cars and SUVs over the years to complement its fleet of green-and-white patrol cruisers. They say it is a way to reach out to the community and make their officers more accessible to the public in a country home to huge foreign workforce. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili) DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Image is everything in Dubai — even when fighting crime. Police in this desert metropolis have built up a high-horsepower arsenal of luxury sports cars and SUVs over the years to complement their fleet of green-and-white patrol cruisers. The high-end squad cars fit into the greater gearhead ethos of Dubai, where fire-engine red Ferraris growl at stoplights and convertible Rolls Royces prowl the boulevard ringing the world's tallest building. Lamborghinis also glisten through the glass of a massive new showroom on Sheikh Zayed Road, the country's longest thoroughfare that is a dozen lanes at its widest when cutting through Dubai. But don't expect their Lamborghini Aventador to show up if you rear-end someone. These police cars don't see duty at traffic accidents or engage in high-speed pursuits, said Dubai police Lt. Saif Sultan Rashed al-Shamsi, who oversees the tourist police's patrol section. Instead, al-Shamsi said the cars appear for special events across Dubai — or cruise areas frequented by tourists, offering visitors a glamorous image of the Dubai police. That also is a way for the city-state's police force to be more accessible and welcomed by the public in a country home to a huge foreign workforce, al-Shamsi said. "One of the funny stories we have is that a lot of tourists and people here call the Dubai police ... on (the emergency number) 999 to ask about these cars," al-Shamsi said. "They want to know which location they will be in and how they can find them and take pictures with them." Their photogenic qualities came out in force on a recent day as officers parked several outside the Armani Hotel in the 828-meter (2,717-foot) Burj Khalifa. The twin scissor doors of the police's BMW i8 swung open like wings on the $140,000 car, which flies to 60 mph in 4.2 seconds. The car's license plate read 2020, a nod to Dubai hosting 2020 World Expo, a world's fair held every five years.