Inside the RUC: Routine Policing in a Divided Society

Police in divided societies have a paradoxical role. They may operate benignly in discharging routine police duties and at the same time are forced to function as a militarized, repressive force to contain political violence. One of the countries where this controversy over policing is most widespread is Northern Ireland. In this innovative study, based on Kathleen Magee's extensive interviews and research with an RUC unit, John Brewer explores the effects which "the troubles" have on routine policing and assesses how professional and modern a force the RUC is. In the process he gives an account of policing in Northern Ireland as it is perceived by those who carry it out, exploring in particular the views of those at the bottom of the police bureaucracy. Inside the RUC is the first full-length study to apply a large volume of sociological literature and ethnographic research on policing to a study of the RUC, and in doing so offers a valuable record of policing under stress.