International Women’s Day: Inspector shares secrets behind her relentless ambition

6 March 2025

In celebration of International Women’s Day (Saturday 8 March), we caught up with Inspector Katie Eustace as she reflected on a successful 15-year career only made possible by never putting limits on herself. 

Katie is currently an inspector in response across north Nottinghamshire, the same area of policing where her career began as she followed in the footsteps of two generations of her family.

She joined the Force in 2009, in the same division as her father, Steve, who, had in turn followed his own father, Phil, into policing.

Inspector Katie Eustace.

While Steve is now retired, Katie said she enjoyed a “very weird, but very nice” start to police life working in the same force as her father. But any feelings of extra scrutiny were balanced out by having a familiar face to rely on as she made her way in the Force.

Seeking out opportunities to develop her career, she had attachments to the Divisional Support Unit (DSU), Police Support Unit (PSU) and Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

“Out of all the units I’d worked in, CID was the one I enjoyed the most. So, I became a trainee detective, which I got a lot out of,” said Katie, whose Dad has now retired.

Join the Police

“The way I could help vulnerable people was a big reason I wanted to join the police in the first place.

“It was my first taste of doing something very different within the same organisation, and I realised there were not many careers like policing in this respect.”

Inspired by her own progression, Katie was on the move again in 2017 as she set her sights on becoming a firearms officer – but not before she had made a significant impact within the CID where her detective sergeant would use her as an example to early-career officers that mobility in the Force is possible with the right ambition.

Yet, despite the confidence she had gathered as she looked towards another new role, some self-doubt remained.

“Firearms intrigued me, but it gave me a bit of that imposter syndrome too. You associate it with being physical and, as a female officer, you can doubt whether you’re the right fit,” Katie, 36, added.

Firearms cop

“I was encouraged to go for it, though, and I’m so glad I did. Over the four years I had as a firearms cop, I think what really helped was knowing I had a close-knit team around me at every step, even in the pressurised moments.

“That, together with the way your critical decision-making becomes so sharp, made me think, ‘I can do this’, and that niggling imposter syndrome went away.”

By the time 2020 rolled around, Katie was not only expecting to become a parent for the first time, but had also decided she was ready to lead other officers at work.

During her pregnancy, she successfully completed her sergeant exams and was all set to step into her new rank when returning from maternity leave.

But to her surprise, the mother-of-one was told she had been fast-tracked to the rank of inspector, after further groundwork around this aim in her time off.

“I’ve just never been one to sit around and chill, to be honest,” she laughed.

Motherhood

“Balancing motherhood and policing is hard – and the hardest parts might be yet to come – but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Now responsible for more than 30 officers, Katie committed to further supporting colleagues when she started an extra Force role as a Post-Incident Manager (PIM) in 2022, partly inspired by her own experience as a key police witness in a Post-Incident Procedure (PIP).

To date, she has completed around 10 PIPs as a PIM and intends to be a responsible presence in many more.

Active in even more extra-curricular police duties – namely, training for a return to firearms as a commander, as well as being a bronze public order commander – Katie’s commitment to the Force can never be in question.

Asked what her father thinks of her relentless drive in policing, she ended: “I’d like to think he’s proud of me. I certainly hope I’m doing him proud.

“I think, ultimately, what keeps me motivated as an officer is still wanting to make the world a better place. I just want to lead by example, and show others that when it comes to helping people and serving the public, there is never enough you can do.”

READ MORE: International Women's Day: A 'porky pie' to dad helped launched sergeant's policing career.