How I found out I’m a Super Recogniser
I was happily minding my own business in a career as a commercial photographer. I couldn’t have known that hiding around the corner was a roller coaster ride beyond anything I could’ve imagined.
Little did I know this book would change my life.
I’ve always been a huge fan of Peter James, the best-selling crime author and creator of one of my favourite characters, DS Roy Grace. Back in 2017, I was reading his newly-released book ‘Need You Dead’. Part of the story describes how DS Grace calls upon Scotland Yard’s Super Recogniser Unit to assist in the identification of a suspect on grainy CCTV. I’d never heard of the term ‘Super Recogniser’ before and grabbed my phone to google the term. I immediately found the Greenwich University fourteen-part simple test and pondered taking it. Then decided against it - I found it fascinating but didn’t think I was any better at recognising faces than anyone else. I could recognise random people over and over, and spot childhood friends I hadn’t seen for decades. I thought we all do this at the same level.
The Greenwich University Quickie Test
Fast forward around 9 months, I’d finished my photo editing for the day and the Greenwich Test suddenly popped into my mind. I tentatively pulled it up onto the screen and took a deep breath. Here we go, do it quick and get it over with, I need to cook dinner. The test seemed ok, a bit hard towards the end but okaaaaayyyy, I just got 14 out of 14. I stopped and read the option to do further testing. Why not…
Another fast forward to a week later and I’m sitting in the lab at the University of Greenwich undergoing rigorous testing, far more challenging than the original quick test. I ploughed through the tests at lightning speed, deciding it was probably best not to think too much about it and go with my instincts.
Life took a turn when a short time later I received a phone call from ex-DCI Mike Neville asking me to attend the first-ever Super Recogniser training course which was happening the following week. I took myself off to London and spent the week with fellow SRs, learning the law and testing our skills. Some of those fellow SRs remain great pals to this day and we have had some fantastic adventures together.
I didn’t know it then and didn’t find out until much later when chatting with Professor Josh Davis, that my scores were the highest they’d ever seen. I threw myself into the world of the Super Recogniser and soon became Chief Operating Officer for Super Recognisers International. With lots of experience under my belt, I took it upon myself to train in surveillance and gained my qualification to become a surveillance operative. I’ve trained in OSINT (Open Source Intelligence) and have worked both alone and in teams on a variety of operations.
In 2023 I decided to take the plunge and founded my own business - Face Detect - to offer my own investigative, surveillance and training services. I’m so excited to have written and delivered a training course designed specifically for those who believe they have heightened facial recognition skills. This is my new world and I’ll never look back.