Women in BLUE

‘I’ve got the filthiest – and the best – job on the force’

Suzanne Crossley, 50, is a sergeant in Northumbria Police’s Marine and Specialist Search Team. She lives with her husband Ken, a retired police officer, and their son Ryan, 16.

Much of my team’s work involves underwater searches for missing people and, sadly, the past 12 months have kept us very busy. The majority of people we search for are older but, during the pandemic, we’ve seen an increase in younger fatalities. When you have children yourself, it really brings the pain home, and we do everything that we can to bring the loved one back to their family.

I manage a team of 10 divers and technicians, in which I am the only woman. We cover a 120-mile stretch from Berwick-upon-Tweed to Seaham, working in often pitch-black water to help find missing people, gather intelligence and search for evidence. Lately, our work has involved helping immigrants and victims of modern-day slavery. I always say it’s the filthiest job in the world, but it’s also the