Editing Royal Ulster Constabulary (section)

====The Stevens Inquiries====
{{Main|Stevens Inquiries}}
On 18 April 2003 as part of the [[Stevens Report|third report]] into collusion between [[Ulster loyalist]] paramilitaries, RUC, and British Army, Sir [[John Stevens (Chief Constable)|John Stevens]] published an Overview and Recommendations document (Stevens 3).<ref>Overview and Recommendations document for Stevens 3 is available in PDF format [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/2956337.stm here] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061206010331/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/2956337.stm |date=6 December 2006 }}.</ref> Stevens' intention was to make recommendations which arose from serious shortcomings he had identified in all three Inquiries.<ref>For a chronology of the Stevens Inquiries and surrounding events see BBC News, 17 April 2003 available [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/2954383.stm '''here'''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040625205114/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/2954383.stm |date=25 June 2004 }}</ref> In his autobiography, Stevens was at pains to point out the high regard in which he held many RUC officers, including Detective Superintendent Maurice Neilly, who was killed in the [[1994 Chinook air crash]].<ref>[[Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington|John Stevens]], ''Not for the Faint-Hearted'' (p. 165), Weidenfeld & Nicolson 2005; {{ISBN|978-0-297-84842-4}}</ref>

The third Stevens Inquiry began in 1999, and referred to his previous reports when making his recommendations. Stevens' third inquiry focused in detail on only two of the killings in which collusion was alleged; that of [[Brian Adam Lambert]] in 1987 and of [[Pat Finucane (solicitor)|Pat Finucane]] in 1989. Stevens used the following criteria as a definition of collusion while conducting his investigation:
*The failure to keep records or the existence of contradictory accounts which could limit the opportunity to rebut serious allegations.
*The absence of accountability which could allow acts or omissions by individuals to go undetected.
*The withholding of information which could impede the prevention of crime and the arrest of suspects.
*The unlawful involvement of agents in murder which could imply that the security forces sanction killings.<ref>Conclusions section of Stevens 3 Overview and Recommendations document, p. 16</ref>
On 12 December 2012 the British Prime minister [[David Cameron]] admitted a statement to the House of Commons that "shocking levels of collusion occurred in the murder of Finucane."<ref>{{cite news |last= Guardian |first= |date=12 December 2012 |title=David Cameron admits 'shocking levels of collusion' in Pat Finucane murder |url= https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/dec/12/david-cameron-pat-finucane-murder|work= |location= |access-date= 28 November 2021}}</ref>