The #Royal Ulster Constabulary operated in Ulster, in Northern Ireland from 1922 until 2001. It was succeeded by the #Police Service of Northern Ireland. The RUC had to deal with the #The Troubles, a guerrilla war waged largely by the IRA but with private armies of the Protestant #Ulster Loyalists adding to the excitement.
After the IRA had murdered dozens or hundreds in the North the RUC did some murders of their own in 1982, which went down rather badly. It was their #Shoot-to-kill policy in Northern Ireland.
The head man was #John Hermon , the perpetrators were often #RUC Special Branch. One result was an investigation by #John Stalker, who met with major obstruction. When that failed he was dismissed from Ireland. His book, Stalker: Ireland, Shoot to Kill And the Affair tells us in detail that there was Perjury, Misconduct In Public Office & conspiracy to Pervert The Course Of Justice. Hermon alleged that The Tape, recording the Hayshed Murder had been destroyed and refused in writing to give access to it. See page 88 et seq. - the RUC regarded the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland as untrustworthy, an enemy prepared to talk to the IRA.
This was followed by another investigation using #John Stevens, another senior policeman. He also met with major problems. One was arson; the police burnt out his office inside a heavily fortified, secure area one night. This was blatant crime as distinct from the harassment that both investigation teams received. His book, Not For The Faint Hearted tells a very similar story, of bigotry, corruption, murder etc. Stevens is a #Timeserver; he snivels to those in power but he did something like an honest job in Ireland.
The Irish took a close interest in these matters, which may well have led to the Good Friday Agreement. The #Police Service of Northern Ireland, replaced the #Royal Ulster Constabulary and infiltration by the IRA. They are now harassing men of the British Army while Gerry Adams, Martin McGuinness & Bernadette Devlin got away with their crimes. Politics trump Law.
John Stalker [ 1939 - ]
John Stalker (born 17 April 1939) is a former Deputy Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, now residing in Lymm. He headed the Stalker Inquiry that investigated the shooting of suspected members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army in 1982. He has also had a television and literary career.
John Stevens ex Wiki [ 1942 - ]
John Arthur Stevens, Baron Stevens of Kirkwhelpington, QPM, KStJ, DL, FRSA (born 21 October 1942) was Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis (head of the Metropolitan Police Service) from 2000 until 2005. From 1991 to 1996, he was Chief Constable of Northumbria Police before being appointed one of HM Inspectors of Constabulary in September 1996. He was then appointed Deputy Commissioner of the Met in 1998 until his promotion to Commissioner in 2000. He was a writer for the News of the World, for £7,000 an article, until his resignation as the hacking scandal progressed.[1] He sits in the House of Lords as a crossbencher.
Kenneth Newman ex Wiki [ 1926 - 2017 ]
Sir Kenneth Leslie Newman GBE QPM (15 August 1926 – 4 February 2017) was a senior British police officer. He was Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary from 1976 to 1980, and Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police from 1982 to 1987. He is best known for initiating a major reform and restructure of the Metropolitan Police during his tenure as Commissioner and for seeing the #Royal Ulster Constabulary replace the British Army as the dominant security force in Northern Ireland during his tenure as Chief Constable.
Royal Ulster Constabulary ex Wiki
The Royal Ulster Constabulary was the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. Following the awarding of the George Cross in 2000, its formal title became the Royal Ulster Constabulary, GC. It was founded on 1 June 1922 as a successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC).[1] At its peak the force had around 8,500 officers with a further 4,500 who were members of the RUC Reserve. During the Troubles, 319 members of the RUC were killed and almost 9,000 injured in paramilitary assassinations or attacks, mostly by the Provisional IRA, which made the RUC, by 1983, the most dangerous police force in the world in which to serve.[2][3][4] In the same period, the RUC killed 55 people, 28 of whom were civilians.[5]The RUC was superseded by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) in 2001. The former police force was renamed and reformed, as is provided for by the final version of the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2000.[6] The RUC has been accused by republicans and Irish nationalists of one-sided policing and discrimination, as well as collusion with loyalist paramilitaries.[7][8] Conversely, it was praised as one of the most professional policing operations in the world by British security forces.[9] The allegations regarding collusion prompted several inquiries, the most recent of which was published by Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan. The report identified police, CID and Special Branch collusion with loyalist terrorists under 31 separate headings, in her report on the murder of Raymond McCord and other matters, but no member of the RUC has been charged or convicted of any criminal acts as a result of these inquiries. Ombudsman Dame Nuala O'Loan stated in her conclusions that there was no reason to believe the findings of the investigation were isolated incidents.[10].........
In March 1972, the Government of Northern Ireland resigned and the parliament was prorogued. Northern Ireland subsequently came under direct rule from Westminster with its own 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 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".[27]
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 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] ..................
In a report released on the 22 January 2007, the Police Ombudsman Dame Nuala O'Loan stated Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) informers committed serious crimes, including murder, with the full knowledge of their handlers.[49] The report stated that RUC Special Branch officers created false statements, blocked evidence searches and "baby-sat" suspects during interviews.
Robert Mark wrote In The Office Of Constable
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RUC_Special_Branch
RUC Special Branch ex Wiki
RUC Special Branch was the Special Branch of the Royal Ulster Constabulary, and was heavily involved in the British state effort during the Troubles, especially against the Provisional Irish Republican Army. It worked closely with MI5 and the Intelligence Corps. The RUC came under criticism for its handling of its agents within paramilitary organisations, including from other RUC officers.[1] The British Army and MI5 did not fully trust Special Branch, because of the perceived influence of the Orange Order on its members.[2]Appointed in 1984 to investigate claims of a RUC "shoot-to-kill" policy, former Deputy Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, John Stalker, said that he "had never experienced...such an influence over an entire police force by one small section" in regard to Special Branch.[3]
Timeserver
QUOTE
a person who shapes his or her conduct to conform to the opinions of the time or of persons in power, especially for selfish ends.
Origin of timeserver
First recorded in 1565–75; time + server
UNQUOTE
A much older expression than I knew.
Police Service of Northern Ireland ex Wiki
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI; Irish: Seirbhís Póilíneachta Thuaisceart Éireann;[4] Ulster Scots: Polis Servis o Norlin Airlan)[5] is the police force that serves Northern Ireland. It is the successor to the Royal Ulster Constabulary after it was reformed and renamed in 2001 on the recommendation of the Patten Report.[6]Although the majority of PSNI officers are still Ulster Protestants, this dominance is not as pronounced as it was in the RUC because of positive action policies. The RUC was an armed police force and played a key role in policing the violent conflict known as the Troubles. As part of the Good Friday Agreement, there was an agreement to introduce a new police service initially based on the body of constables of the RUC.[7][8] As part of the reform, an Independent Commission on Policing for Northern Ireland (the Patten Commission) was set up, and the RUC was replaced by the PSNI on 4 November 2001.[9][10] The Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2000 named the new police service as the Police Service of Northern Ireland (incorporating the Royal Ulster Constabulary); shortened to Police Service of Northern Ireland for operational purposes.[8][11]
All major political parties in Northern Ireland now support the PSNI. At first Sinn Féin, which represented about a quarter of Northern Ireland voters at the time, refused to endorse the PSNI until the Patten Commission's recommendations were implemented in full. However, as part of the St Andrews Agreement, Sinn Féin announced its full acceptance of the PSNI in January 2007.[12]
In comparison to the other 44 territorial police forces of the United Kingdom, the PSNI is the third largest in terms of officer numbers (after the Metropolitan Police Service and Police Scotland) and the second largest in terms of geographic area of responsibility, after Police Scotland. The PSNI is about half the size of Garda Síochána in terms of officer numbers.
John Hermon ex Wiki
Sir John Charles Hermon, OBE, QPM (23 November 1928 – 6 November 2008) was the Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary from 1980–1989.After joining the RUC, he was posted in various parts of western Northern Ireland, including Eglinton, Coalisland and Strabane before sitting his sergeant's examinations. He was the first RUC officer to attend the advanced policing course at the British police training college in Bramshill in England in 1963.[2]
He became Chief Constable in 1980, after an attachment to Scotland Yard. As Chief Constable, he changed the interview processes of terrorist suspects at the Castlereagh interrogation centre. An anonymous former interrogator has claimed that "The new chief constable was completely against any mistreatment of prisoners whatsoever...we started to detect a change .... straight away." Hermon is thought to have believed that the allegations of mistreatment were harming relations between the RUC and the wider communities.[3] He retired in 1989, and became the longest-serving Chief Constable of the RUC.[2]
One analysis has argued that Hermon's actions in charge of the RUC 'transformed it into a more independent force, shorn of its worst sectarian sympathies' and that these reforms also had the effect of allowing the RUC to be better able to support the peace process in the 1990s than it would have been otherwise.[citation needed] After retiring, he became, in June 1989, a consultant to a private security company.[2]
Shoot-to-kill policy in Northern Ireland ex Wiki
During the period known as "the Troubles" in Northern Ireland (the second half of the 20th century), the British Army and Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) were accused by Republicans of operating a "shoot-to-kill" policy, under which suspected terrorists were alleged to have been deliberately killed without any attempt to arrest them. Such a policy was alleged to have been directed almost exclusively at suspected or actual members of Irish republican paramilitary groups. The Special Air Service (SAS) is the most high-profile of the agencies that were accused of employing this policy, as well as other British Army regiments, and the RUC.[1]Notable incidents alleging the use of the shoot-to-kill policy include the Loughgall ambush, Operation Flavius in Gibraltar, Coagh ambush, Clonoe ambush and an incident in Strabane in which three IRA volunteers were shot dead. The SAS killed a total of 14 Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) and Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) members at these locations.
Other high-profile incidents involving alleged shoot-to-kill incidents occurred in Belfast, Derry, East Tyrone and South Armagh. The killing of Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) member Brian Robinson by undercover soldiers is notable for being the most prominent of the very few alleged "shoot-to-kill" incidents where the victim was a loyalist.[2]
The Troubles ex Wiki
The Troubles (Irish: Na Trioblóidí) was an ethno-nationalist[12][13][14][15] conflict in Northern Ireland during the late 20th century. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict,[16][17][18][19][20] it is sometimes described as a "guerrilla war" or a "low-level war".[21][22][23][24] The conflict began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed to have ended with the Good Friday Agreement of 1998.[3][25][26][27][28] Although the Troubles primarily took place in Northern Ireland, at times the violence spilled over into parts of the Republic of Ireland, England, and mainland Europe.The conflict was primarily political and nationalistic, fuelled by historical events.[29] It also had an ethnic or sectarian dimension,[30] although it was not a religious conflict.[12][31] A key issue was the constitutional status of Northern Ireland. Unionists/loyalists, who were mostly Protestants, wanted Northern Ireland to remain within the United Kingdom. Irish nationalists/republicans, who were mostly Catholics, wanted Northern Ireland to leave the United Kingdom and join a united Ireland.
The conflict began during a campaign to end discrimination against the Catholic/nationalist minority by the Protestant/unionist government and police force.[32][33] The authorities attempted to suppress this protest campaign and were accused of police brutality; it was also met with violence from loyalists, who alleged it was a republican front. Increasing inter-communal violence, and conflict between nationalist youths and police, eventually led to riots in August 1969 and the deployment of British troops. Some Catholics initially welcomed the army as a more neutral force, but it soon came to be seen as hostile and biased.[34] The emergence of armed paramilitary organisations led to the subsequent warfare over the next three decades.
The main participants in the Troubles were republican paramilitaries such as the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) and the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA); loyalist paramilitaries such as the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and Ulster Defence Association (UDA); British state security forces – the British Army and Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC); and political activists and politicians. The security forces of the Republic played a smaller role. Republican paramilitaries carried out a guerrilla campaign against the British security forces, as well as a bombing campaign against infrastructure, commercial and political targets. Loyalists targeted republicans/nationalists, and attacked the wider Catholic community in what they claimed was retaliation. At times there were bouts of sectarian tit-for-tat violence. The British security forces undertook both a policing and a counter-insurgency role, primarily against republicans. There were some incidents of collusion between British security forces and loyalists. The Troubles also involved numerous riots, mass protests and acts of civil disobedience, and led to segregation and the creation of no-go areas.
More than 3,500 people were killed in the conflict, of whom 52% were civilians, 32% were members of the British security forces, and 16% were members of paramilitary groups.[7] There has been sporadic violence since the Good Friday Agreement was signed, including a campaign by anti-ceasefire republicans.[3][27][35]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulster_loyalism
Ulster Loyalists ex Wiki
Ulster loyalism is a political ideology found primarily among working class Ulster Protestants in Northern Ireland, whose status as a part of the United Kingdom has remained controversial.[1][2][3] Most Ulster Protestants are descendants of settlers from Great Britain in the 17th and 18th centuries. Like unionists, loyalists are attached to the British monarchy, support the continued existence of Northern Ireland, and oppose a united Ireland. Ulster loyalism has been described as a kind of ethnic nationalism and "a variation of British nationalism".[4][5] It is strongly associated with paramilitarism.Ulster loyalism emerged in the late 19th century, as a response to the Irish Home Rule movement, and the rise of Catholic Irish nationalism. Although most of Ireland was Catholic, in the province of Ulster, Protestants were the majority. Ulster was also more industrialized than other parts of Ireland and was heavily dependent on trade with Britain. Loyalism began as a self-determination movement among Ulster Protestants who did not want to become part of an autonomous Ireland. While some Irish Catholics were also unionist, loyalism emphasized a Protestant and British heritage. These movements led to the partition of Ireland in 1921; most of Ireland became an independent state, while about two-thirds of Ulster remained within the United Kingdom as a self-governing territory called Northern Ireland. Loyalists often use 'Ulster' as an alternative name for Northern Ireland.
Since partition, most loyalists have supported upholding Northern Ireland's status as a part of the United Kingdom, i.e. unionism. Historically, the terms 'unionist' and 'loyalist' were often used interchangeably; however, since the resurgence of loyalist paramilitarism in the 1960s (during the start of The Troubles), a distinction between the two is made more often. The term 'loyalist' is now usually used to describe working class unionists who are willing to use, or tacitly support, paramilitary violence to defend the Union with Britain.[6][7][8] Loyalists are also described as being loyal primarily to the Protestant British monarchy rather than to the British government and institutions.[9] Garret FitzGerald argued that loyalists are loyal primarily to 'Ulster' rather than to 'the Union'.[10] A small minority of loyalists have called for an independent Ulster Protestant state, believing that they cannot rely on the British government to prevent Irish reunification (see Ulster nationalism).
In Northern Ireland there is a long tradition of militaristic loyalist Protestant marching bands. There are hundreds of such bands who hold numerous parades each year. The yearly Eleventh Night (11 July) bonfires and The Twelfth (12 July) parades are strongly associated with loyalism. According to the Parades Commission, a total of 1,354 loyalist parades (not counting funerals) were held in Northern Ireland in 2007.[11] The Police Service of Northern Ireland uses different statistics, and recorded a total of 2,863 parades in 2007. Of these, 2,270 (approximately 80%) were held by loyalist marching bands.[12]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Patrol_Group_(RUC)
Special Patrol Group (RUC) ex Wiki
The Special Patrol Group (SPG) of the Royal Ulster Constabulary was a tactical reserve of 150 officers which had the role: to provide backup in civil commotion, to police sensitive areas at times of confrontation, and to show the flag in a disciplined and impressive way to those who wished to break the peace. [1] Formerly known as the Police Reserve Force, the name was changed to Special Patrol Group in 1970 to avoid confusion between the Reserve Force and the newly formed RUC Reserve.[2]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Stalker
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Troubles