International Women’s Day: We Hear From City of London Police Federation Secretary Suzanne Ferris

7 March 2025

Female Federation Reps bring vital experience and empathy to a branch, City of London Police Federation Secretary Suzanne Ferris has said.

Speaking on International Women’s Day, Suzanne said she was pleased that a quarter of City of London Police Federation Reps were female, but encouraged more female officers to sign up.

Suzanne was the first ever female Secretary of the City of London Police Federation.

She said: “I’ve been branch Secretary for almost two years now – I’m the first female executive officer in the City of London Federation, which I’m really proud of. We’ve got a good representation of female Fed Reps at the moment. A quarter of our Reps are female, which is representative of the force numbers.

“But we would love to have some more women on the team, because it’s really important that our female colleagues feel that they can come to the Federation for support, advice and welfare; if they see that the Federation represents them, they’re more likely to approach us.

“It can be easier for female officers to talk about certain issues with female Federation reps. We can empathise with people when you’ve been through maternity, menopause, all of these things. The job-related fitness test, for instance – there are all sorts of issues with getting back to fitness after having a baby. When you’ve got women in the organisation, they may have experienced those same issues, so can understand it better.”

Suzanne said her favourite part of working for the Federation was looking after officers’ welfare and supporting them through conduct procedures.

She continued: “I also support officers where there’s been unfair treatment, especially with protected characteristics. I think we can really make a difference to people, and so many officers have said they’re grateful for the help that we can give them. It can feel very isolating if you’re going up against senior officers or the force, so having us on side is really helpful.”