Abstract
Abstract Policing in Northern Ireland has been hurtful and divisive. Hurt is felt by the police—302 Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officers have been killed since 1969, and several thousands injured. Equally, many detainees and even com munities have suffered harassment, discrimination, abuse, assaults, and ill treatment at the hands of the RUC, who have also shot dead many suspects and are alleged to have colluded with Loyalist paramilitaries. Division arises because policing is a fundamental attribute of statehood—the police are ‘the locus of ultimate coercive power’ and inevitably show ‘partisanship in favour of a dominant order’. Put simply, if Northern Ireland is a political entity whose very existence and legitimacy is challenged, then it follows that all major attributes of the entity will also be challenged, and the police in Northern Ireland, the RUC, are prime candidates for this treatment:
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