The Royal Ulster Constabulary can be located within a context of policing which deviates significantly from other Western European countries. A centralised, armed and paramilitary force has existed in Ireland since 1822, not as a response to social changes induced by industrialisation, but as a direct agent of British colonial policy in Ireland. The RUC is culturally, politically and organisationally locked into its role as a counter-insurgency force and is now a dysfunctional element in the context of the Good Friday Agreement and movement towards a more inclusive and democratic society in Northern Ireland.
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