Sir Lawrence Byford CBE QPM DL (10 August 1925 – 10 February 2018) was an English police officer who served as Chief Inspector of Constabulary from 1983 to 1987.
[1] His inquiry into the failings of the Yorkshire Ripper investigation by West Yorkshire Police earned him the description "the man who changed the face of modern policing" because it "led to fundamental changes in the way serial killer investigations would be carried out in future across the world".
In 1944, Byford was conscripted and saw service during the latter months of World War II with the Royal Signals in France, Belgium and Germany.
[2] Byford's police career began in 1947 as a constable with the West Riding Constabulary, where he rose to be the Commander of the Huddersfield Division.
[13] In 1950 he married Muriel Campbell Massey: they had three children, one of whom was Deputy Director General of the British Broadcasting Corporation and head of BBC Journalism from 2004 to 2011.