Policing the empire / Policing the metropole : Some thoughts on models and types

Abstract

This article discusses the models and styles of policing deployed by European powers in their overseas empires. The main focus is on the police forces created in the British Empire and the assumption that the model for these institutions was the Royal Irish Constabulary. The article argues that, in reality, police systems in the empire were much more of a pragmatic pick and mix depending on the size and spread of the European population in a colony, the finance available and the size and form of the region to be policed. It builds on an earlier typology of European police and suggests that this extended typology provides a starting point for exploring the complexities of colonial police institutions and that it has relevance beyond the British Imperial context.