Royal Ulster Constabulary

The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was established in 1922 following the Government of Ireland Act in 1920. Due to the Irish War of Independence from 1922-23, the RUC was kept despite the installation of the Anglo-Irish Treaty and creation of the Irish Free State. As the nation's established police force, the RUC had a responsiblity to maintain internal order. In the background of the Troubles, however, this was to fail. As republican paramilitaries often intimidated Catholic membership, the RUC typically consisted of Protestants. This led to complaints on behalf of Catholics that the RUC (and its emergency reserve force known as the B-Specials) fostered predjudice and discrimination against Catholics, as well as collusion with loyalist paramilitaries. As such, the RUC became a common target of republican violence.

In an attempt to engage in the "dirty war" which Britain was attempting to wage against its republican enemies, the RUC created its own intelligence service, known as the Special Branch. The Special Branch and its later vision of an SAS-type branch known as the E4A (Echo Four Alpha), was a positive indication of the British attempt at "Ulsterization," or handing over secrutiy responsibiliteis to the domestic force. The problem with the Special Branch, however, was that is was often distrusted by its security forces, and was often far too dependent on informants for its intelligence.

Despite improvements as an effective intelligence force, the RUC experienced drastic levels of violence. According to the Univeristy of Ulster's Center on Conflict Archive on the Internet, 319 members of the RUC were killed and almost 9,000 injured due to sectarian violence (committed mostly on the behalf of the IRA). The RUC was replaced by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) in 2001, following the Police Service of Northern Ireland Act of 2000.