Dark Vocations 15 – The Police Diver

Police divers, often called public safety divers, perform one of the most challenging, dangerous, and emotionally taxing jobs in law enforcement. Their work extends beyond regular patrol duties, involving intense underwater searches in treacherous and murky environments. These professionals face unique physical and psychological challenges that make their profession both fascinating and gruesome.

Below is an in-depth exploration of the police diver’s job, the tasks they perform, and the emotional toll of such a high-stakes career.

The Role of Police Divers

Police divers serve various roles in law enforcement, focusing primarily on search and recovery missions.

Their tasks include:

1. Recovering Evidence: Police divers are often called upon to retrieve weapons, stolen property, or other objects tossed into bodies of water to hide evidence. These objects might be located in rivers, lakes, ponds, reservoirs, or even sewers, requiring divers to operate in extremely poor visibility.
2. Body Recovery: One of the most difficult parts of a police diver’s job is the recovery of human remains, such as drowning victims or murder victims disposed of underwater. Decomposition, environmental factors, and the time elapsed since death can make this a particularly disturbing and grim aspect of the job.
3. Search and Rescue: In some instances, divers participate in rescue operations to find individuals who have fallen into water or gone missing in water-based accidents. Unfortunately, many of these missions transition from rescue to recovery as time passes.
4. Investigating Underwater Crime Scenes: Water can be a crime scene, and police divers must carefully survey the area to preserve and document any potential evidence. This requires an expert understanding of forensic procedures, as water often alters evidence such as fingerprints or DNA.
5. Underwater Inspections and Hazard Assessments: Police divers are sometimes tasked with inspecting infrastructure like bridges, piers, and dams for signs of tampering or hazards. These dives can be critical in preventing disasters or potential attacks.

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The Physical Challenges of the Job

Being a police diver demands physical endurance, advanced training, and mental fortitude.

The water environments they operate in often present several risks, including:

1. Limited Visibility: In many cases, police divers work in conditions where visibility is reduced to almost zero. Muddy rivers, polluted lakes, and urban waterways pose significant hazards, as divers often have to rely on their sense of touch to locate objects.
2. Cold Water and Hypothermia: Diving into cold water is a constant danger for police divers. Prolonged exposure to freezing temperatures can lead to hypothermia, impairing both physical performance and decision-making abilities. While wearing specialised thermal protection, divers must be acutely aware of their body’s warning signs.
3. Confined Spaces and Entanglement Risks: Some of the areas police divers operate in, such as sewers or collapsed structures, can be extremely confined. Underwater debris, tree branches, and discarded fishing lines create entanglement risks. Divers must be equipped with cutting tools and trained to free themselves in case of entrapment.
4. Diving in Contaminated Water: Police divers often find themselves working in heavily polluted environments, ranging from industrial waste ponds to sewage systems. These waters can harbour dangerous bacteria, toxic chemicals, or sharp objects, putting divers at risk of infections or physical injury.
5. Physical Exhaustion: The sheer effort of manoeuvring underwater while carrying heavy diving equipment (which can weigh between 50-100 pounds) can be physically draining. Tasks like lifting submerged objects, securing them for retrieval, or simply battling strong currents make the job physically demanding.

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The Psychological Toll

While the physical demands of the job are challenging, the psychological burden police divers face can be equally, if not more, severe.

Regular exposure to traumatic and often gruesome scenes has a lasting effect on mental health. Here are some of the key psychological factors:

1. Dealing with Decomposition: When retrieving human remains from the water, police divers frequently encounter bodies that have been severely decomposed. Depending on how long the body has been submerged, this can range from soft tissue deterioration to skeletonisation. Decomposition is accelerated in warmer waters, and the sight and smell can be extremely distressing, even for experienced divers.
2. Emotional Impact of Recovering Children: Perhaps one of the most heartbreaking aspects of the job is recovering the bodies of children. In cases of accidental drowning or child murder, police divers may be tasked with finding and retrieving the remains of young victims. This part of the job is often cited as one of the hardest, as it affects even the most seasoned divers.
3. Witnessing Grief Firsthand: After a recovery, police divers often interact with the victims’ families. Delivering closure to grieving relatives can provide some emotional solace, but it also forces divers to confront raw human sorrow. Seeing the pain of those left behind adds to the emotional weight of the job.
4. The Loneliness of the Dive: Unlike many other law enforcement tasks, diving is a solitary experience. Even with a team on the surface, police divers are often isolated underwater, alone in dark, silent environments for long periods. This solitude can contribute to a sense of isolation, especially when dealing with emotionally harrowing situations.
5. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): Police divers are at high risk for PTSD. The combination of frequent exposure to death, working in high-stress situations, and the physical isolation of underwater work can lead to flashbacks, anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues. Departments are increasingly recognising the need for psychological support and counselling for their dive teams.

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Training and Certification

To become a police diver, officers must undergo rigorous training and certification, far beyond that of a recreational diver.

The specialised training typically includes:

1. Public Safety Diver Certification: Police divers must complete courses in public safety diving that focus on underwater search and recovery, evidence preservation, and dive safety protocols. They learn how to manage dangerous diving environments, perform underwater rescues, and navigate in low-visibility conditions.
2. Crime Scene Investigation: Police divers also receive training in forensic science, enabling them to handle underwater crime scenes without contaminating evidence. Techniques such as photographing underwater scenes, using grids to search for evidence, and securing fragile objects are part of their training.
3. Advanced Dive Techniques: Police divers often take courses in deep diving, night diving, and dry suit diving (for cold-water conditions). They also learn how to deal with entanglement and emergencies like running out of air or equipment failure underwater.
4. Continuous Physical and Psychological Training: Given the extreme nature of their work, police divers are required to maintain peak physical fitness and often undergo psychological training to cope with the intense emotional demands of the job.

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Conclusion: A Profession of Courage and Resilience

Police divers are unsung heroes of law enforcement, often operating far from the public eye, submerged in some of the most difficult and dangerous conditions imaginable.

The physical risks they face, combined with the emotional toll of encountering death and tragedy on a regular basis, make theirs one of the most gruesome professions. Despite this, they carry out their duties with professionalism and a deep sense of duty, providing closure to families, recovering crucial evidence, and even saving lives in the rare moments when rescue is still possible.

For those drawn to a career that combines the thrill of diving with a commitment to public service, becoming a police diver offers a unique and deeply impactful way to serve. However, it is also a profession that demands immense mental and physical strength, as well as a willingness to confront the darker aspects of life and death beneath the water’s surface.

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© Colin Lawson Books

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