Search Technician – Clare (Posh) Johnson

I currently work for Cambridgeshire County Council with adults with Learning Disabilities in a day service setting.  I am also involved in staff development for colleagues across the County working in this field. 
I joined CamSAR because, from a professional point of view, I know how easy it can be for a vulnerable person to go missing.  In addition, from a personal point of view, I know how distressing it can be for the family of someone who 'wanders'.

Leading Technician – Richard (Radar) Morley

"I first heard about CamSAR on a BBC Radio Cambridgeshire programme 3 years ago. I had recently retired and felt that my work experience, plus many years in the Scout movement, fitted me to this new organisation. I made contact and have been with the team since the very beginning. I am currently holding the position of Radio Officer on the Management Committee a role which I thoroughly enjoy.
After 16 years in the Royal Air Force, as an officer in the Administrative branch, I retired in the rank of Flight Lieutenant and moved onto what is now Sports for England ending up as the Senior Compliance Manager.

Team Leader – Steve Crowson

I am married with three children and a self employed builder and carpenter.  With a keen interest in the outdoors I had thought about joining the police for many years but then I found out about CamSAR. I joined the team because I wanted to put something back into the community. I am now part of a highly trained and professional search team. Being self employed means I can easily leave off work to attend a call out as we are on standby 24/7, 365 days of the year. It is a pleasure working with our team as we all work well together. I would recommend this to anyone who has some spare time and wants to give something back to the community. Teams range in size from 4 to 6 members with the Team Leader providing team leadership and group management. The Team Leader is responsible for briefing the team and managing the health and safety and welfare of the team. They also decide on team tactics and break the search area down into manageable sectors.

Search Controller – Sheila Collins

Having started with CamSAR as a Search Technician and finding that I enjoyed it immensely I completed my Team Leader training in 2008. For the following 12 months I studied and trained to complete my Search Controllers course finally passing the exam in late 2009 and becoming the first newly qualified Search Controller on the team. The Search Controller co-ordinates all the resources available and provides scenario based planning of the search dividing the search area into high, medium and low probability sectors based on previous missing persons behaviour statistics. The Search Controller records all information coming back from the teams and liaises with other agencies such as police, HM Coastguard, RAF Search and Rescue etc. to ensure that no stone is left unturned during a search. Although MisPer searches make up the majority of the teams work CamSAR also provides many other services to the category one responders above and beyond our initial training. Despite the immense pressure and responsibility put on the Search Controller during a search I find it extremely satisfying to know that I have played a part in locating a vulnerable missing person.

Search Technician – MTB Unit – Steve (Tibbsy) Tibbs

I am a personal trainer and run Persona-Fit, a family business with my wife Lisa, and son Lewis. I am also a bank staff smoking cessation advisor for the NHS, and cover clinics all over Cambridgeshire.
I was a gunner in the Royal Auxiliary Air Force for 14 years, a trained medic and Physical Training Instructor. Since I left the RAF in 2004 I had been looking for something I could put the skills I learnt there to good use.
I joined CamSAR in March 2009, and I get a lot out of the training, it gives me a great sense of achievement, especially knowing that I am doing something that gives great comfort to the families of missing people, as well as providing a vital service to the police and community.