Editing Royal Ulster Constabulary (section)

==History==
===Establishment===
Under section 60 of the [[Government of Ireland Act 1920]], [[Northern Ireland]] was placed under the jurisdiction of the [[Royal Irish Constabulary]] (RIC). On 31 January 1921, [[Richard Dawson Bates]], the first [[Minister of Home Affairs for Northern Ireland]], appointed a committee of inquiry on police organisation in the region. It was asked to advise on any alterations to the existing police necessary for the formation of a new force (i.e. recruitment and conditions of service, composition, strength and cost).<ref name=CrownedHarp>{{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d9tlHpPqL78C&pg=PA22|title=The Crowned Harp: Policing Northern Ireland |first1=Graham |last1=Ellison |first2=Jim |last2=Smyth |date=20 May 2000 |page=19 |publisher=Pluto Press |isbn=978-0-7453-1393-1}}</ref>

An interim report was published on 28 March 1922, the first official report of the new [[Parliament of Northern Ireland]], and was subsequently accepted by the Northern Ireland Government. On 29 April 1922, King [[George V]] granted to the force the name Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC).<ref name=CrownedHarp />{{rp|13}} In May, the Parliament of Northern Ireland passed the Constabulary Act 1922, and the RUC officially came into existence on 1 June. The headquarters of the force was established at Atlantic Buildings, Waring Street, [[Belfast]]. The uniform remained essentially the same as that of the RIC – a dark green, as opposed to the dark blue worn by the other [[Police forces of the United Kingdom|British police forces]] and the {{Lang|ga|[[Garda Síochána]]|italic=no}}. A new badge of the [[Red Hand of Ulster]] on a [[St George's Cross]] surrounded by a chain was designed but proved unpopular and was never uniformly adopted. Eventually the harp and crown insignia of the [[Order of St Patrick]], as worn by the RIC, was adopted.<ref name="doherty"/>

From the beginning the RUC had a dual role, unique among British police forces, of providing a normal [[law enforcement]] service while enforcing the new Northern Ireland entity in the face of considerable opposition, both armed and unarmed.<ref name=CrownedHarp />{{rp|13}} To this end, its members were armed, as the RIC had been. The RUC was limited by statute to a 3,000-strong force.<ref name=CrownedHarp />{{rp|268}} Initially, a third of positions within the force were reserved for [[Irish Catholic|Catholic]]s, a reflection of the denominational proportions of the population of Northern Ireland at that time. The first two thousand places were filled quickly and those reserved for Catholics were filled mainly by ex-RIC members fleeing north. Due to reluctance by the political establishment to employ too many Catholics (who were seen as potentially disloyal to the [[Ulster Protestants|Protestant]] and [[Unionism in Ireland|unionist]] ethos of the new government) the force abandoned this policy. As a result, representation of Catholics in the RUC never exceeded 20%. In addition, many Catholics who joined the force, particularly during the Troubles, were targeted for murder or ostracised by their own community. By the 1960s, representation of Catholics in the RUC had fallen to 12%.<ref name="morrison">{{cite book|last=Morrison|first=John|title=The Ulster Cover-Up|year=1993|type=Paperback|publisher=Ulster Society (Publications) Ltd|location=Lurgan, County Armagh|isbn=1-872076-15-7|pages=26, 39–40|chapter=The Ulster Government and Internal Opposition}}</ref>

The RUC were supported by the [[Ulster Special Constabulary]], a volunteer body of part-time [[auxiliary police]] established before the Northern Ireland government was set up, who had already been given uniforms and training. The RUC's senior officer, the Inspector General, was appointed by the [[Governor of Northern Ireland]] and was responsible to the Minister of Home Affairs in the Northern Ireland government for the maintenance of law and order.<ref name=CrownedHarp />{{rp|20}}

===Early years===
The polarised political climate in Northern Ireland resulted in violence from both sides of the political and sectarian divide. The lawlessness that affected the region during the early 1920s, and the problems it caused for the RUC, are indicated in a police report drawn up by District Inspector R.R. Spears in February 1923. Referring to the situation in Belfast after July 1921 he stated:<blockquote>For twelve months after that, the city was in a state of turmoil. The IRA ([[Irish Republican Army (1922-69)|Irish Republican Army]]) was responsible for an enormous number of murders, bombings, shootings and incendiary fires. The work of the police against them was, however, greatly hampered by the fact that the rough element on the Protestant side entered thoroughly into the disturbances, met murder with murder and adopted in many respects the tactics of the rebel gunmen. In the endeavour to cope simultaneously with the warring factions the police efforts were practically nullified. They were quite unable to rely on the restraint of one party while they dealt with the other.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eaxnAAAAMAAJ&q=editions:Kaz1VvQOGX8C |title=The Northern IRA and the Early Years of Partition, 1920–1922 |pages=122–123|first=Robert John |last=Lynch |date=1 February 2006 |publisher=Irish Academic Press |isbn=9780716533771 |via=Google Books}}</ref></blockquote>

About ninety police officers were killed between 1920 and 1922 in what would become Northern Ireland (see [[The Troubles in Northern Ireland (1920–1922)]]). The security forces were implicated in reprisal killings of Catholics but no convictions ever rendered. Most notable of these incidents were the [[McMahon killings]] on 26 March 1922, in which six Catholics were killed; and the [[Arnon Street killings]] several days later on 1 April 1922, in which six more Catholics were shot dead in retaliation for the IRA killing of a policeman.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HqlnAAAAMAAJ|title=Belfast's Unholy War: The Troubles of the 1920s |first=Alan F.|last=Parkinson |isbn=9781851827923 |date=17 June 2008 |publisher=Four Courts Press}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Parkinson|first=Alan F.|title=Belfast's Unholy War: The Troubles of the 1920s|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HqlnAAAAMAAJ| year=2004| publisher=Four Courts Press|isbn=978-1-85182-792-3|pages=245–48}}</ref> By the mid-1920s the situation had calmed down; for the next forty-five years the murder rate in Northern Ireland would be lower than in the rest of the UK and the crime detection rate higher.<ref name="morrison"/>

The 1920s and 1930s were years of economic [[austerity]]. Many of Northern Ireland's traditional industries, notably linen and shipbuilding, were in [[recession]], which contributed to the already high level of unemployment. Serious rioting broke out in 1932 in Belfast in protest at inadequate relief for the unemployed.<ref>{{cite book|last=Mitchell|first=Seán|title=Struggle or Starve: Working-Class Unity in Belfast's 1932 Outdoor Relief Riots|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NUUkDwAAQBAJ|year=2017| publisher=Haymarket Books| isbn=978-1-60846-748-8}}</ref> In response to the growth of motorised transport, the RUC Traffic Branch was formed on 1 January 1930. In 1936 the police depot at [[Enniskillen]] was formally opened and an £800,000 scheme to create a network of 196 police barracks throughout Northern Ireland by rationalizing or repairing the 224 premises inherited from the RIC was underway.<ref name=CrownedHarp />{{rp|22}} In May 1937 a new white glass lamp with the RUC crest went up for the first time to replace the RIC crest still on many stations. About the same time the [[Criminal Investigation Department]] (CID) in Belfast was significantly expanded, with a detective head constable being appointed to head the CID force in each of the five Belfast police districts. There was sporadic IRA activity in the 1930s.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}

In 1937, on the occasion of the visit of [[George VI of the United Kingdom|King George VI]] and [[Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother|Queen Elizabeth]] to the province, the IRA blew up a number of [[customs]] posts. In 1939 the IRA launched its [[S-Plan|Sabotage Campaign]] in England, which would end a few days before the outbreak of the [[World War II|Second World War]]. The war brought additional responsibilities for the police: the security of the land border with the [[Republic of Ireland]], which remained neutral during the war, was one important consideration; smuggling greatly increased due to [[rationing]], to the point where police virtually became revenue officers; and many wartime regulations had to be enforced, including "[[blackout (wartime)|black-out]]" requirements on house and vehicle lights, the arrest of [[labor strike|striking]] workers, port security, and restrictions on the movement of vehicles and use of petrol.<ref>{{cite book|last=Barton| first=Brian|title=Northern Ireland in the Second World War| url=https://archive.org/details/northernirelandi0000bart|url-access=registration| year=1995| publisher=Ulster Historical Foundation|isbn=978-0-901905-69-7|page=[https://archive.org/details/northernirelandi0000bart/page/24 24]}}</ref>

The RUC was a "reserved occupation", i.e. the police force was deemed essential to the domestic war effort and its members were forbidden to leave to join the other services. The wartime situation gave a new urgency to discussions regarding the appointment of women police. The Ministry of Home Affairs finally gave approval to the enrolment of women as members of the RUC on 16 April 1943, with the first six recruits starting on 15 November, headed by [[Marion Paterson Macmillan]], who transferred from the [[Metropolitan Police]]. Post-war policies brought about a gradual improvement in the lot of the RUC, interrupted only by a return to hostilities by the IRA [[Border Campaign (IRA)|border campaign]] from 1957 to 1962, in which seven RUC officers were killed. The force was streamlined in the 1960s, a new headquarters was opened at [[Knock, Belfast]] and a number of rural [[barracks]] were closed.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}

==="The Troubles"===
{{more citations needed section|date=February 2014}}
[[File:RUC PSNI Dungiven.JPG|thumb|right|Picture showing the fortifications of the RUC station in [[Dungiven]].]]
The [[civil rights]] protests during the 1960s, and the reaction to them, marked the beginning of the conflict that became known as "[[the Troubles]]". The RUC found itself confronting marchers protesting against [[gerrymander]]ing of local electoral wards and discrimination in local housing allocation. Many of these [[Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association]] protests were banned or truncated by the [[Parliament of Northern Ireland|government of Northern Ireland]]. The [[Ulster Special Constabulary]] were controversial, with the unit seen by some nationalists as more anti-Catholic and anti-nationalist than the RUC, which, unlike the B Specials, did attract some Catholic recruits. The severe pressure on the RUC and the perceived partiality of the B-Specials led, during the [[Northern Ireland riots of August 1969]], to the [[British Army]] being called in to support the civil administration under [[Operation Banner]]. Catholics largely turned away from the British Army, who they saw as treating Protestants differently, especially after the [[Falls Curfew]].<ref>{{cite book| last=Cochrane | first=Feargal | title=Northern Ireland: The Reluctant Peace | publisher=Yale University Press | year=2013 | pages=57}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| last=Smith| first=William| title=The British State and the Northern Ireland Crisis, 1969–73: From Violence to Power-sharing | publisher=US Institute of Peace Press | year=2011 | pages=151}}</ref>

===Reform===
The high level of civil unrest led to an exhaustive inquiry into the disturbances in Northern Ireland carried out by [[Leslie Scarman, Baron Scarman|Lord Scarman]], which produced a report in 1972.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C11108227 |title=Scarman Report on violence and civil disturbances in Northern Ireland in 1969 |date=4 April 1972 |website=discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk |publisher=The National Archives |access-date=16 September 2017 |archive-date=16 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170916053249/http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C11108227 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[James Callaghan]], [[Home Secretary]] in 1969, called on Brigadier [[John Hunt, Baron Hunt|John Hunt]] (Lord Hunt) to assess, advise and report on the policing situation. He was assisted in this task by Sir [[Robert Mark]], who later became [[Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis|Commissioner]] of the [[Metropolitan Police Service]], and Sir James Robertson, then-[[Chief Constable]] of [[City of Glasgow Police|Glasgow]]. The [[Hunt Report]] was published on 3 October 1969, and most of its recommendations were subsequently accepted and implemented. The aim was to completely reorganise the RUC, both modernizing the force and bringing it into line with the other police forces in the UK. This meant the introduction of the [[UK police ranks|British rank and promotion structure]],<ref name=cain-hunt-rpt-rec11>{{cite web|author1=Baron Hunt|author-link=John Hunt, Baron Hunt|title=Report of The Advisory Committee on Police in Northern Ireland|url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/hmso/hunt.htm|publisher=[[Her Majesty's Stationery Office]]|access-date=25 February 2015|location=Belfast|date=October 1969|via=[[Conflict Archive on the Internet]] @ cain.ulst.ac.uk|quote=(11) The rank structure should be reviewed (paragraph 97).|archive-date=20 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150220052147/http://www.cain.ulst.ac.uk/hmso/hunt.htm|url-status=live}} (Extract-chapters 1.General Considerations about our Mission) & 10.Conclusions and Recommendations, ''only'')</ref> the creation of 12 [[Police Division]]s and 39 Sub-Divisions, the disbandment of the Ulster Special Constabulary,<ref name=bbc-otd-10oct>{{cite news|title=1969: Ulster's B Specials to be disbanded|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/10/newsid_3146000/3146929.stm|access-date=12 March 2014|work=On This Day-10 October|publisher=BBC|archive-date=13 November 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121113183328/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/10/newsid_3146000/3146929.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> and the creation of a [[Police Authority]] designed to be representative of all segments of the community.<ref name=hmso-hunt-rpt-rec02>[[Hunt Report]]–Summary of Recommendations: (2) "There should be a Police Authority for Northern Ireland, whose membership should reflect the proportions of different groups in the community (paragraphs 87,88)."</ref>

Callaghan, later elected Prime Minister, asked Sir [[Arthur Young (police officer)|Arthur Young]], Commissioner of the [[City of London Police]], to be seconded for a year. Young's appointment began the long process of turning the RUC into a British police service. The RUC Reserve was formed as an [[auxiliary police]] force, and all military-style duties were handed over to the newly formed [[Ulster Defence Regiment]], which was under military command and replaced the B Specials. Callaghan selected Young, a career policeman, because no other British policeman could match his direct experience of policing acutely unstable societies and of reforming [[gendarmerie]]s. from 1943 to 1945, he was Director of Public Safety and Director of Security in the military government of Allied-occupied Italy. Later, he had been seconded to the [[Federation of Malaya]] at the height of the [[Malayan Emergency]] (1952–53) and to the crown colony of [[Kenya]] during the [[Mau Mau rebellion]] (1954).<ref>[http://www.psni.police.uk/index/pg_police_museum/pg_academic_research/pg_sir_arthur_young.htm Sir Arthur Young biodata], psni.police.uk; accessed 21 February 2014. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080308000853/http://www.psni.police.uk/index/pg_police_museum/pg_academic_research/pg_sir_arthur_young.htm |date=8 March 2008 }}</ref>

===First deaths===
The first deaths of the Troubles occurred in July 1969. Francis McCloskey, a 67-year-old Catholic civilian, had been found unconscious on 13 July near the [[Dungiven]] [[Orange Institution#Orange halls|Orange Hall]] following a police baton charge against a crowd who had been throwing stones at the hall. Witnesses later said they had seen police batoning a figure in the doorway where McCloskey was found, although police claimed that he had been unconscious before the baton charge and may have been hit with a stone. He was taken to hospital and died the following day.<ref name=lostlives>{{cite book| last1=McKittrick|first1=David|last2=Kelters| first2=Seamus|last3=Feeney| first3=Brian|last4=Thornton|first4=Chris| title=Lost Lives: The Stories of the Men, Women and Children who died as a result of the Northern Ireland Troubles|date=2008|publisher=Mainstream Publishing|location=Edinburgh|isbn=978-1-84018-504-1|page=32|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sdYcw7Zs3W4C}}</ref><ref name=cain-14-jul-69>{{cite web|last1=Sutton|first1=Malcolm|title=14 July 1969 (re Francis McCloskey)|work=An Index of Deaths from the Conflict in Ireland|url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/chron/1969.html|publisher=Conflict Archive on the Internet|access-date=21 February 2014|archive-date=19 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120219010535/http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/chron/1969.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

On 11 October 1969, Constable Victor Arbuckle was shot dead by loyalists on Belfast's [[Shankill Road]] during serious rioting in protest at the recommendations of the Hunt Report. Arbuckle was the first police fatality of the Troubles. In August 1970, two young constables, Donaldson and Millar, died when an abandoned car they were examining near the strongly republican town of [[Crossmaglen]] exploded. They became the first security forces victims of the [[Provisional Irish Republican Army campaign]]. This campaign involved the targeting of police officers, and continued until the final [[ceasefire]] in 1997, as the [[Northern Ireland peace process|peace process]] gained momentum. The last RUC officer killed, Constable Francis O'Reilly (a Catholic), was also killed by loyalists, in a September 1998 bombing during the [[Drumcree conflict]].<ref name=lostlives/>

===Later years===
In March 1972, the [[Executive Committee of the Privy Council of Northern Ireland|Government of Northern Ireland]] resigned and the parliament was [[legislative session#Procedure in Commonwealth realms|prorogued]]. Northern Ireland subsequently came under direct rule from Westminster with its own [[Secretary of State for Northern Ireland|Secretary of State]], who had overall responsibility for security policy. From the mid-1970s onward, the British policy of [[Ulsterisation]] meant RUC officers taking a more prominent role in the conflict than previously, which increased their casualty rate. Starting in late 1982, a number of IRA and [[Irish National Liberation Army]] (INLA) men were shot dead by the RUC. This led to accusations of a [[Shoot-to-kill policy in Northern Ireland|shoot-to-kill policy]] by the RUC. In September 1983, four officers were charged with murder in connection with the deaths. Although all were subsequently found not guilty, the [[British government]] set up the [[Stalker Inquiry]] to investigate further. In May 1986, Sir [[John Hermon]], then [[Chief Constable]], publicly accused unionist politicians of ''"consorting with [[paramilitary]] elements"''.<ref name=cain-02-may-86>{{cite web|last1=Sutton|first1=Malcolm|title=Friday 2 May 1986|work=A Chronology of the Conflict|url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/othelem/chron/ch86.htm|publisher=Conflict Archive on the Internet|access-date=25 February 2014|archive-date=14 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514130616/http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/othelem/chron/ch86.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

Anger over the [[Anglo-Irish Agreement]] led to loyalist assaults on more than 500 homes belonging to Catholics and RUC officers during the mid-1980s. At least 150 RUC families were forced to move as a result. In 1998 Chief Constable [[Ronnie Flanagan]] stated in an interview on television that he was unhappy with any RUC officers belonging to the [[Orange Order]] or any of the other [[loyal orders]]. While the RUC refused to give any details on how many officers were members of the Order, thirty-nine RUC officers are listed on the Order's Roll of Honour (of 'Orangemen' killed in the conflict). The size of the RUC was increased on several occasions. At its height, there were 8,500 regular police officers supported by about 5,000 full-time and part-time reserve officers, making it the second largest force in the United Kingdom after the Metropolitan Police in London. The direction and control of the RUC was in the hands in the Chief Constable, who was assisted by two Deputy Chief Constables and nine Assistant Chief Constables. For operational purposes, Northern Ireland was divided into twelve [[Police division|Divisions]] and thirty-nine Sub-Divisions. RUC ranks, duties, conditions of service and pay were generally in line with those of police forces in Great Britain. {{Citation needed|date=August 2009}}