The RUC was formed as a "Special Constabulary" comprising 30,000 men in 1921. They were funded by a British treasury who felt "it was the easiest way to police the state,'" and they were both 100% Protestant and 100% loyalist.
In the main, they were members of the Ulster Volunteer Force or other pro?British loyalist murder gangs or institutions. In 1968, during the Civil Rights campaign, the RUC and "B Specials" played their familiar role in undermining legitimate protests when they batoned, beat and intimidated peaceful protesters.
In 1969, they actively engaged in arson attacks on nationalist areas, particularly in Belfast.
Any notion that the RUC could operate impartially died with Samuel Devanny, from Derry, who was beaten to death By RUC men as he sat in his own home in April 1969.
At the height of the sectarian murder campaign of the 1970s RUC members were directly involved in arming loyalist murder squads.
As one former R.U.C. any has explained of the R.U.C....
"They form a distinctly partisan force and it is
impossible to expect the impartiality that is
necessary in an efficient police force."
· Today, collusion with loyalist death squads includes handing over police files to target activists. Indeed, RUC patrols often clear the way for such murders. In 1993, an off?duty RUC man went on a murder spree himself, killing 4 men at a West Belfast Sinn Fein Advice Center.
· R.U.C. patrols and officers are heavily armed, with military?style weapons, armor, and armored vehicles. One of the most notorious methods of policing crowds of protesters in northern Ireland, is the plastic bullet. Plastic bullets have killed more than 17 Irish civilians, many of them children. The plastic bullet is banned for police use in mainland Britain, but in contradiction is deemed suitable for northern Ireland.
· The R.U.C. is engaged in Shoot?to?Kill policies, as proven by The Stalker and Stevens inquires of the 1980s and are in regular contact with loyalist paramilitary organizations at every level. The RUC is in essence, a law unto itself.
The issue of policing must be resolved as part of any negotiated settlement for a just and lasting peace in Ireland. The RU.C. must be disbanded and a new force set up which will be represenative of both Unionist and Nationalist communities in northern Ireland, and one which may be held accountable for all of its actions.