The Police Complaints Authority (PCA), was an independent body in the United Kingdom with the power to investigate public complaints against the Police in England and Wales as well as related matters of public concern. It was formed in 1985, replacing the Police Complaints Board and was then itself replaced by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) in April 2004.
The IPCC was itself pre-dated by the Office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland. This agency was set up in 2000 to investigate complaints against the Royal Ulster Constabulary and its successor the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). It had its own teams of civilian investigators and was completely independent of the Police. In addition to the PSNI it also covered the Belfast Harbour Police and the Larne Harbour Police, the Belfast International Airport Constabulary, and the MoD Police (not the same as the Royal Military Police). Unlike the IPCC the Ombudsman's office could investigate an incident without waiting for a referral or complaint.
The PCA asked the West Yorkshire Police to investigate the activities of the West Midlands Serious Crime Squad in 1989. It reported in 1994. [1]
The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. It was founded on 1 June 1922 as a successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) following the partition of Ireland. At its peak the force had around 8,500 officers with a further 4,500 who were members of the RUC Reserve.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland is the police force that serves Northern Ireland. It is the successor to the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) after it was reformed and renamed in 2001 on the recommendation of the Patten Report.
Law enforcement in the United Kingdom is organised separately in each of the legal systems of the United Kingdom: England and Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland. Most law enforcement is carried out by police officers serving in regional police services within one of those jurisdictions. These regional services are complemented by UK-wide agencies, such as the National Crime Agency and the national specialist units of certain territorial police forces, such as the Specialist Operations directorate of the Metropolitan Police.
The Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) was a non-departmental public body of the Government of the United Kingdom which existed from 1 April 2006 until 7 October 2013. SOCA was a national law enforcement agency with Home Office sponsorship, established as a body corporate under Section 1 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005. It operated within the United Kingdom and collaborated with many foreign law enforcement and intelligence agencies.
The Northern Ireland Policing Board is the police authority for Northern Ireland, charged with supervising the activities of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). It is a non-departmental public body composed of members of the Northern Ireland Assembly and independent citizens who are appointed by the Minister of Justice using the Nolan principles for public appointments.
Jean McConville was a woman from Belfast, Northern Ireland, who was kidnapped and murdered by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) and secretly buried in County Louth in the Republic of Ireland in 1972 after being accused by the IRA of passing information to British forces.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) was a non-departmental public body in England and Wales responsible for overseeing the system for handling complaints made against police forces in England and Wales.
The Police Complaints Board (PCB) was the British government organisation tasked with overseeing the system for handling complaints made against police forces in England and Wales from 1 June 1977 until it was replaced by the Police Complaints Authority on 29 April 1985.
The Belfast Harbour Police is a small, specialised ports police force, with responsibility for the Port of Belfast, Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1847, making it the oldest continuously-operating law enforcement agency in Ireland.
Sir Ronald Flanagan is a retired senior Northern Irish police officer. He was the Home Office Chief Inspector of Constabulary for the United Kingdom excluding Scotland. Sir Ronnie was previously the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) since its creation in 2001 to 2002, and had been Chief Constable of its predecessor, the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) until 2001.
The Office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland is a non-departmental public body intended to provide an independent, impartial police complaints system for the people and police under the Police Acts of 1998 and 2000.
Nuala Patricia O'Loan, Baroness O'Loan, DBE, known between 2007 and 2009 as Dame Nuala O'Loan, is a noted public figure in Northern Ireland. She was the first Police Ombudsman from 1999 to 2007. In July 2009, it was announced that she was to be appointed to the House of Lords. Consequently, she was elevated to the peerage in September 2009. In December 2010, National University of Ireland, Maynooth appointed her as Chairman of its Governing Authority. She is a columnist with The Irish Catholic.
This is a description of law enforcement in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Before the Republic left the union in 1922, one police force — the Royal Irish Constabulary — policed almost the whole island.
The Headquarters Mobile Support Unit (HMSU) is the police tactical unit of the Police Service of Northern Ireland. The HMSU was originally formed in the then Royal Ulster Constabulary part of Special Branch and was involved in several controversial shootings during The Troubles.
The history of law enforcement in the United Kingdom charts the development of law enforcement in the United Kingdom. It spans the period from the Middle Ages, through the development of the first modern police force in the world in the eighteenth century, and subsequent modernization of policing.
Sir George Ernest Craythorne Hamilton is a Northern Ireland retired police officer. From 2014 to 2019, he served as the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland. He was previously the Assistant Chief Constable with responsibility for rural policing.