DI Claire Jesson

What made you want to become a detective?

I started on response at Congleton and immediately identified a real passion for proactive work and victim care. I became a sexual offence officer and really enjoyed dealing with victims. I never thought I would want to leave response but as my career developed I realised that I wanted to be in the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) as I felt I could make a real difference for victims.

Which detective role did you go in to first?

I completed my aide in 2005, working between Crewe and Congleton, I worked both the proactive team dealing with burglaries, reactive CID and a stint in child protection. I finished my aide and went to the Local Policing Unit (LPU) at Congleton where I was responsible for burglary investigations and I led a small proactive team looking at drug investigations.

What is it like being a detective?

In 2012 I was promoted to detective sergeant in the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) at Crewe and stayed in the reactive office until 2014 when I moved to be the proactive DS, I was lucky to have some fantastic investigations including oversees drug trafficking and large scale conspiracies and learnt a lot around covert policing methods.

In 2014 I had a baby and when I came back from maternity I returned to what is now referred to as the (Beat Initiative Team) BIT team, a proactive team that tackle series of offences, drug offences and target high harm nominals within the LPU. I led a small team of DCs, worked some very long hours but loved every minutes.

In 2016 I moved to Macclesfield as acting DI, overseeing both the proactive and reactive units at Macclesfield which I really enjoyed.

My current role (since 2018) is DI at Crewe, overseeing reactive CID, Proactive CID and now as part of the eastern crime pilot I have the rape specialists and child protection specialists also.

I love that one day is never the same, whether it’s managing a threat to life, overseeing a drugs operation, applying for covert policing methods or running an attempt murder investigation. I am really lucky to have a job that gives me a flavour of all of the things I enjoy.

The detectives in my team work exceptionally hard, they deal with victims in their darkest days which can be really difficult for the officers, however securing results for these victims is the most rewarding part of our work. We are one big team and the support the staff show for each other is exemplary. I juggle full time work with being a parent and a husband who is on shifts but I wouldn’t change any of it.

What is some of your greatest achievements on the job?

Some of my greatest achievements as a DC were securing rape charges for vulnerable victims, one I recall we had 3 x trials for due to various court issues and then a hung jury but we got there in the end! Being able to deliver the guilty verdict to that message was one of the best feelings and I will never forget it.

Proactive wise I am really proud of some of the drug conspiracies I have been involved in, most notable the importation of 30kilos of amphetamine that we tracked back too and subsequently prosecuted – offenders in the Philippines - I learnt a lot about extradition orders and the laws in Thailand!

As an Inspector I’m really proud of the work I have done to improve our service to domestic abuse victims at Crewe and some of the large scale investigations we have managed including firearms discharges and attempt murders - for which we have secured convictions.

Would you recommend this job to people?

I would recommend being a detective to anyone, my advice would be that you need to be naturally inquisitive, you need the skills of a response officer first, the ability to be able to speak to people of any background, obtain information/intelligence and not to be intimidated. You need to be a strong character, you will be interviewing some of the most violent, calculated people you may ever come across and they will eat you for breakfast if you haven’t learnt these skills beforehand.

If you’re a response cop, be proactive, get involved in intelligence gathering, do as many stop checks as you can, seek out your Organised Crime Group (OCG) members and target them every time they move - all of this will improve your confidence and improve your communication skills.

For PCs wanting to become a DC then speak to your CID DS’ and ask if you can become involved in more in depth work, offer to work a training day with the BIT, shadow on ABEs or suspect interviews. You’re the first response to most incidents that then come into the CID so volunteer for a sexual offences job, think about your victims communication skills. DA jobs are a great place to start, your juggling a great deal of vulnerability and they need you to make the right impression from the get go.

Be prepared for hard work but it’s worth it!