Simon Byrne (police officer)

Simon Byrne, QPM (born 29 April 1963) is a senior British police officer. He has served as Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) since July 2019. He was the Deputy Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police from 2009 to 2011 and the Assistant Commissioner for Territorial Policing in the Metropolitan Police Service from 2011 to 2014. He then served as Chief Constable of Cheshire Constabulary from 2014 to 2017.

Chief Constable Simon Byrne QPM
Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 July 2019
Preceded by	Sir George Hamilton
Personal details
Born	29 April 1963
Citizenship	United Kingdom
Nationality	British

Early life and education

Byrne was born on 29 April 1963 in Epsom, Surrey, England. He was educated at Neston High School, then a comprehensive school in Neston, Cheshire. He later studied police management at the University of Manchester, graduating with a Master of Arts (MA) degree.[1]

Police career

Byrne began his career in the police when he joined the Metropolitan Police Service as a constable in 1982.[2] He transferred to Merseyside Police in 1985.[3] He served as the commander of the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley between 2002 and 2004.[4]

In 2006, he was promoted to Assistant Chief Constable.[5] This is a chief officer rank therefore he joined the Association of Chief Police Officers. Within Merseyside Police he served as ACC Operations and ACC Personnel.[3] In February 2009, he transferred to Greater Manchester Police, becoming Deputy Chief Constable.[6] In 2011, he returned to the Metropolitan Police Service as the Assistant Commissioner for Territorial Policing.[4][7]

On 24 February 2014, he was selected as the next Chief Constable of Cheshire Constabulary.[8] He took up the appointment on 25 June.[4] He was awarded the Queen's Police Medal (QPM) in the 2016 New Year Honours.[9] On 23 August 2017, he was suspended after an investigation found he had a case to answer for gross misconduct.[10] His fixed-term contract expired in 2018.[11] He was cleared of misconduct on 11 December 2018.[12][13]

Police Service of Northern Ireland

On 24 May 2019, Byrne was announced as the next Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).[14] He took up the appointment on 1 July 2019.[15] He is paid £207,489 per year.[14]

Honours

Ribbon	Description	Notes
	Queen's Police Medal (QPM)	2016
	Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal	2002 UK Version of this Medal
	Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal	2012 UK Version of this Medal
	Police Long Service and Good Conduct Medal

References

1. "Byrne, Simon". Who's Who 2019. Oxford University Press. 1 December 2018. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
2. Bloom, Ben (16 January 2012). "New police commissioner goes back to Paddington stomping ground". Ham&High. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
3. "Simon Byrne". About the Met – Leadership. Metropolitan Police. Retrieved 8 December 2013.
4. "Preferred candidate for Cheshire chief constable is revealed". Chester Chronicle. 12 February 2014. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
5. "New Deputy Chief Constable Appointed". Salford Online. 21 February 2009. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
6. "Deputy Chief Constable lands new role with the Met". Rochdale Online. 27 October 2011. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
7. Keeling, Neal (21 October 2011). "London calling for one of GMP's top police officers". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 8 December 2013.
8. "Crime Panel Approves Cheshire's New Chief Constable". Cheshire Police & Crime Commissioner. 25 February 2014. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
9. "No. 61450". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 2015. p. N35.
10. Perraudin, Frances (23 August 2017). "Cheshire chief constable suspended over gross misconduct allegations". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
11. "Police chief 'was like Darth Vader'". BBC News. 17 September 2018. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
12. "Cheshire police chief Simon Byrne cleared of misconduct". BBC News. 11 December 2018. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
13. "Gross Misconduct Hearing: Former Chief Constable Simon Byrne". Cheshire PCC. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
14. Edwards, Mark (24 May 2019). "Simon Byrne appointed as new PSNI chief constable". The Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
15. O'Neill, Julian (1 July 2019). "New PSNI chief Simon Byrne sworn in". BBC News. Retrieved 5 September 2019.