This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Royal Ulster Constabulary" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR(July 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
Royal Ulster Constabulary
Badge of the RUC
Cap Badge of the RUC from 1970 onwards.
Flag of the RUC
Abbreviation
RUC
Agency overview
Formed
1 June 1922
Preceding agency
Royal Irish Constabulary
Dissolved
4 November 2001
Superseding agency
Police Service of Northern Ireland
Legal personality
Police force
Jurisdictional structure
National agency
Northern Ireland
Operations jurisdiction
Northern Ireland
Map of Royal Ulster Constabulary's jurisdiction
Size
14,130 km2 (5,460 sq mi)[1]
General nature
Local civilian police
The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC)[n 1] was the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. It was founded on 1 June 1922 as a successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC)[2] following the partition of Ireland. At its peak the force had around 8,500 officers, with a further 4,500 who were members of the RUC Reserve.
The RUC policed Northern Ireland from the aftermath of the Irish War of Independence until after the turn of the 21st century and played a major role in the Troubles between the 1960s and the 1990s. Due to the threat from the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), who saw the RUC as enforcing British rule, the force was heavily armed and militarised. Officers routinely carried submachine guns and assault rifles, travelled in armoured vehicles, and were based in heavily fortified police stations.[3] It was the first police force to use rubber and plastic bullets for riot control.
The RUC's membership was overwhelmingly Protestant, leading to accusations by sections of the Catholic and Irish nationalist minority of one-sided policing and sectarianism. Officers were also accused of police brutality as well as collusion with loyalist paramilitaries.[4][5] Conversely, it was praised as one of the most professional police forces in the world by British security forces.[6] During the Troubles, 319 RUC officers were killed and almost 9,000 injured in paramilitary assassinations or attacks, mostly by the IRA, which made the RUC the most dangerous police force in the world in which to serve by 1983.[7][8][9] In the same period, the RUC killed 55 people, 28 of whom were civilians.[10] In 2000, the RUC was awarded the George Cross for bravery.
The RUC was superseded by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) in 2001, as mandated by the final version of the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2000.[11] Allegations regarding collusion prompted several inquiries, the most recent of which was authored by Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan in 2007. The report identified police, CID and Special Branch collusion with loyalist terrorists, but no member of the RUC has been charged or convicted of any criminal acts as a result of these inquiries. O'Loan stated in her conclusions that there was no reason to believe the findings of the investigation were isolated incidents.[12]
^ONS Geography (8 January 2016). "The Countries of the UK". Office for National Statistics. Office for National Statistics (United Kingdom). Archived from the original on 1 January 2016. Retrieved 26 November 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^Richard Doherty, The Thin Green Line – The History of the Royal Ulster Constabulary GC, pp. 5, 17, 27, 93, 134, 271; Pen & Sword Books; ISBN 1-84415-058-5
^Weitzer, Ronald. Policing Under Fire: Ethnic Conflict and Police-Community Relations in Northern Ireland. SUNY Press, 1995. pp.72-73
^[1] Archived 26 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine, 15 murders linked to police collusion with loyalists.
^[2] Archived 2 October 2018 at the Wayback Machine, There was collusion between some police officers and loyalist gunmen who killed six Catholics 22 years ago, a report by NI's Police Ombudsman has said.
^"The RUC: Lauded and condemned". BBC News. bbc.co.uk. 31 October 2001. Archived from the original on 29 August 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2007. Condemned by republicans, nationalists and human rights groups for embodying sectarianism and lauded by British security forces as one of the most professional police operations in the world, the Royal Ulster Constabulary is one of the most controversial police forces in the UK.
^Number of RUC killed during the Troubles Archived 19 July 2006 at the Wayback Machine, cain.ulst.ac.uk; accessed 22 December 2014.
^"CNN Specials - Northern Ireland". 29 August 2007. Archived from the original on 29 August 2007. In 1983, Interpol figures showed that Northern Ireland was the most dangerous place in the world to be a police officer, the risk factor being twice as high as in El Salvador, the second most dangerous.
^"Northern Ireland – Identity Crisis for Police". CNN. Archived from the original on 29 August 2007.
^Number of people killed by RUC in Northern Ireland Archived 7 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine, cain.ulst.ac.uk; accessed 22 December 2014.
^Russell, Deacon (2012). Devolution in the United Kingdom. Edinburgh University Press. p. 218. ISBN 978-0748669738.
^Synopsis of report by Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan Archived 19 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine, BBC.co.uk; accessed 19 September 2014.
Cite error: There are <ref group=n> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=n}} template (see the help page).
and 29 Related for: Royal Ulster Constabulary information
The Ulster Special Constabulary (USC; commonly called the "B-Specials" or "B Men") was a quasi-military reserve special constable police force in what...
The Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC, Irish: Constáblacht Ríoga na hÉireann; simply called the Irish Constabulary 1836–67) was the police force in Ireland...
former Royal Irish Constabulary, the former RoyalUlsterConstabulary[citation needed], Royal Newfoundland Constabulary, Jamaica Constabulary Force. A...
The RoyalUlsterConstabulary Band was the public duties branch of the RoyalUlsterConstabulary of Northern Ireland. It was formed in 1905 under District...
women, and three times collectively, to the Island of Malta, the RoyalUlsterConstabulary (RUC) and the National Health Service. About half the recipients...
government attempted to suppress the protests. The police, the RoyalUlsterConstabulary (RUC), were overwhelmingly Protestant and known for sectarianism...
awarded to members of the RoyalUlsterConstabulary Reserve upon the recommendation of the Chief Constable, RoyalUlsterConstabulary, who served fifteen years...
civil rights campaign was met with violence from both Ulster loyalists and the RoyalUlsterConstabulary (RUC), culminating in the August 1969 riots and deployment...
RoyalConstabulary may refer to: Royal Irish ConstabularyRoyal Newfoundland ConstabularyRoyal Parks ConstabularyRoyalUlsterConstabulary This disambiguation...
The RoyalUlsterConstabulary Service Medal was a medal created to honour the service of members of the RoyalUlsterConstabulary (RUC) and the RUC Reserve...
of the British Armed Forces. Many of the killings were by the RoyalUlsterConstabulary (RUC) during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Police in Northern...
Éireann; Ulster-Scots: Polis Service o Norlin Airlan), officially the Police Service of Northern Ireland (incorporating the RoyalUlsterConstabulary), is...
response to the August 1969 riots. Its role was to support the RoyalUlsterConstabulary (RUC) and to assert the authority of the British government in...
Kenova is an ongoing criminal investigation into whether the RoyalUlsterConstabulary in Northern Ireland failed to investigate as many as 18 murders...
British soldiers from the local Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) and police officers from the RoyalUlsterConstabulary (RUC) colluded with loyalist paramilitaries...
three children and witnesses identify two of the bombers to the RoyalUlsterConstabulary (RUC). They stay with Sinéad, the local pub keeper, who is Curtis'...
inside the Real IRA, but this information was not given to the RoyalUlsterConstabulary (RUC). In 2008, the BBC reported that British intelligence agency...
and Tans (Irish: Dúchrónaigh) were constables recruited into the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) as reinforcements during the Irish War of Independence. Recruitment...
Northern Ireland. The HMSU was originally formed in the then RoyalUlsterConstabulary part of Special Branch and was involved in several controversial...
Johnston v Chief Constable of the RoyalUlsterConstabulary (1986) Case 222/84 is a UK labour law and EU labour law case concerning sex discrimination...
However, the Royal Ulster Constabulary (and the previous Royal Irish Constabulary) did have its own Ulster Special Constabulary from 1920 until 1970, when...
its predecessor, the RoyalUlsterConstabulary (RUC) until 2001. Born in Belfast, Flanagan joined the RoyalUlsterConstabulary (RUC) in 1970 while studying...
Sir Norman Stronge aged 86 and his son James Stronge aged 48, a RoyalUlsterConstabulary officer; its ruins were demolished in 1998, having stood for 249...
16 September 1997, the CIRA detonated a van bomb outside the RoyalUlsterConstabulary (RUC) base in Markethill, causing widespread damage. The bombing...
an armoured patrol car that was designed specifically for the RoyalUlsterConstabulary by Frederick Butler. The first design meeting took place in November...