Editing Royal Ulster Constabulary (section)

===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}}