Detective retires after more than 30 years fighting crime in his home town

During a career of more than 30 years, Detective Inspector Craig Lord has been involved in some of the region, and Calderdale’s, highest profile murder cases.

On the day he retired, just before Christmas, he had lost none of the interest in cases and how to solve them which fascinated him from boyhood, and led him to a successful police career which has taken him from a PC learning the job, through roles in Calderdale and Bradford CID sections, and as part of the Calderdale District Safeguarding Unit.

In the latter role he is proud to have helped protect some of the most vulnerable people in Calderdale, the patch he grew up in. Craig, 49, said: “I was brought up in King Cross and Savile Park and went to Crossley and Porter School, joining the force in 1986, starting as a police cadet in Halifax and after two years in Huddersfield returning as a detective in 1997,” he said.

“I moved to Braford CID in 2005 but came back to Calderdale when I joined the safeguarding unit, which is about protecting the vulnerable people including children and those those suffering domestic violence. We also investigated historic sex offences.

“All my roles in policing have been front line, and I have been a detective for more than 20 years.

“It is rewarding in different ways - for example it is rewarding when you get a difficult investigation involving vulnerable people and give them a sort of closure and comfort in seeing justice done. That still satisfies.”

Craig said having done the job since leaving school, like other officers he had learned how to cope with the very challenging circumstances that are part of the police’s day-to-day work, how not to over-think things while remaining alert.

“As a serving detective, even if you are not involved in a case, you keep an eye on it and if something happens elsewhere in the country you note it,” he said.

Over 30 years of advances in forensics have meant solutions can be found to cases where the trail has gone cold but policing has never been more difficult, said Craig. “We are in some really challenging times and need all the support we can get. It has been very satisfying for me policing in my home town and I have tried to do the right thing for Halifax,” he said.

With his wife Val he now intends to take a break before deciding what to do next. “In policing, every day is different and presents a new challenge. I shall miss it on some levels, and the amount of friends I have made. It has been interesting,” he said.