Importing back colonial policing systems? The relationship between the royal Irish constabulary, Indian policing and militarization of policing in England and Wales

Abstract

Policing a dynamic and fluid system related to the more general aspects of socio‐political changes within society. Though the securing of law and order would seem to be a singular theme that binds all police forces together, a closer examination of the various police forces would reveal heterogeneous roles being assigned by virtue of historical necessity. This paper is an attempt to look beyond ‘models’ of policing. It argues that the age‐old tradition of policing in England and Wales, represented through the strategy of unarmed policing, is being slowly eroded by the incorporation of a paramilitary style that has its origin in colonial policing practices. In this sense it may be argued, the strategy of colonial policing once used in policing the subjects of a diverse empire are being brought ‘home’. This necessarily obfuscates the neat categories that many scholars have used in typifying policing.