Bernard Lawson Deputy Chief Constable Merseyside Police

Bernard Lawson joined Merseyside Police in 1984 and performed a variety of uniformed and CID roles to the rank of Inspector across Merseyside.

He was responsible for the writing of the first annual Policing Plan and Corporate Strategy and from here worked in the HMIC at a regional and national level as a Chief Inspector.

In 1998 he transferred to Lancashire Constabulary as a Superintendent working as a deputy BCU Commander in Northern Division. In 2000 he was promoted to Chief Superintendent followed by a 2 year period as a BCU Commander in Preston – his home town. He was successful in applying for and attending the 2002 Strategic Command Course.

In December 2002, he returned to Merseyside as ACC (Personnel & Training) transferring to the role of ACC (Operations) in January 2005. This latter role involved responsibility for Area Operations, Criminal Justice, Call Handling and despatch and Community Relations. More recently he has returned to Personal and Training with the addition of Professional Standards before becoming Temporary Deputy Chief Constable in October 2007.

Bernard has had responsibility for the Grand National (2005 & 2006), the British Open Golf (2006) at Royal Liverpool, Liverpool F.C. homecoming parade from the European Championships (2005) and overall responsibility for the major sporting leagues in 2005 and 2006.

In 2005, he took the lead on the racist murder of Anthony Walker and the subsequent national conference hosted in Liverpool to challenge such events from occurring again.

Bernard has a first degree in Mathematics from Newcastle Upon-Tyne and a Masters in Applied Criminology from Cambridge University.