Mike Berry is an authority and trainer of international standing in underwater criminal investigation and specializes in teaching others how to succeed and survive in this ever demanding and challenging profession. Mike is recognized internationally as a Master Underwater Criminal Investigator. PADI, the world's largest dive training agency has not only awarded him this title but has certified him as a Master Underwater Criminal Investigator Instructor based on his years of experience and his contributions to the profession of Public Safety Diving.

Mike has been a Trooper with the Virginia State Police for over 25 years. He served 12 years on the road as a road Trooper, 10 years at the Virginia State Police Training Academy as an Academy Sergeant/Instructor and is currently a First Sergeant and Area Commander. He is a Graduate of the FBI National Academy and has been an active member of his department's search and recovery team for his entire career. 

In 1987, after seeing the need for qualified professional training in Public Safety Diving, Mike founded Underwater Criminal Investigators, LLC® (UCI). He uses his 29 plus years of experience as a Virginia State Police diver, 20 years as the team's Operations Coordinator and instructor and over a thousand underwater criminal investigations as his training foundation.

Mike is the author of "The Water's Edge", which is an in-depth manual on how to conduct underwater criminal investigations. He has published many articles relating to public safety diving and lectures throughout the United States and abroad on these same topics and others.

Mike is a underwater investigation consultant and has assisted federal, state, and other police authorities in criminal investigations dealing in and around a water environment. Mike specializes in organizing and leading large multi -jurisdictional dive operations and has had the honor of being called upon to manage some of the largest and most dangerous underwater criminal investigations in the world. In the winter of 2002 and 2003, he was asked to lead the FBI's Anthrax diving operation in Frederick Maryland searching frozen ponds for evidence relating to that case. The operation became one of the country's largest and most dangerous public safety diving operations involving a terrorist act ever attempted due to the hazardous conditions and the size of the overall operation. As a result of his contributions, he received letters of commendation from the FBI as well as being awarded the Virginia State Police Superintendent's "Award of Merit."

Mike is a Master Instructor for the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI), a Master Underwater Criminal Investigator/Instructor, a certified personal physical fitness trainer, an Emergency Medical Technician, a Land Search and Rescue Instructor Trainer, a Ropes Rescue Instructor and a Swiftwater Rescue Instructor to name just a few of his qualifications. Mike is currently a First Sergeant with the Virginia State Police and serves as their Search and Recovery Team (SART) Operations Coordinator and Head Diving Instructor.

A Message from Mike Berry