POLICE AND PENAL SERVICES (FROM VIOLENCE AND THE SOCIAL SERVICES IN NORTHERN IRELAND, 1978, BY JOHN DARBY AND ARTHUR WILLIAMSON - SEE NCJ-56136)

• NCJ Number: 56143
• Author(s): P HILLYARD
• Date Published: 1978
• Length: 23 pages
• Corporate Author: Heinemann Educational Books, Inc
• Publication Format: Document
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom

Annotation

WAYS IN WHICH VIOLENCE IN NORTHERN IRELAND HAS LED TO CHANGES IN THE POLICE AND PENAL SYSTEMS ARE ANALYZED.

Abstract

UNDER THE IMPACT OF VIOLENCE AND CIVIL DISORDER IN NORTHERN IRELAND, THE POLICE FORCE HAS BEEN TRANSFORMED FROM A CENTRALIZED FORCE DIRECTLY ANSWERABLE TO THE GOVERNMENT TO AN INDEPENDENT FORCE RESPONSIBLE TO A POLICE AUTHORITY. POLICE PERSONNEL TURNOVER HAS BEEN EXTENSIVE, WITH OVER 50 PERCENT OF THE FORCE IN 1976 MADE UP OF RECRUITS WHO HAD JOINED SINCE 1968. THE PENAL SYSTEM HAS ALSO BEEN ALTERED EXTENSIVELY, WITH TWO VAST PRISON COMPLEXES HAVING BEEN BUILT AND A NEW PRISON PLANNED. PRISON FACILITIES HAVE BEEN CHANGED FROM A CELLULAR SYSTEM TO A COMPOUND SYSTEM. ALTHOUGH THE CHANGES HAVE BEEN EXTENSIVE, WITH ONE OR TWO EXCEPTIONS, THERE HAVE BEEN NO RADICAL DEPARTURES FROM TRADITIONAL BRITISH POLICE AND PENAL PRACTICE. THERE HAS BEEN NO SERIOUS CONSIDERATION OF OTHER TYPES OF POLICE ORGANIZATION, SUCH AS LOCAL POLICE FORCES. SIMILARLY, THE DECISION TO BUILD A MAXIMUM SECURITY PRISON REFLECTED TRADITIONAL PENOLOGICAL THINKING IN WHICH SECURITY IS THE DOMINANT CONSIDERATION OF POLICY. THE VIOLENCE HAS SERVED TO STIMULATE A GREATER THAN NORMAL UNITY AMONG THE PERSONNEL IN THE POLICE AND PENAL SYSTEMS. PERSONNEL IN BOTH ENTERPRISES HAVE DEVELOPED POWERFUL ORGANIZATIONS PREPARED TO CHALLENGE THE AUTHORITIES NOT ONLY IN RELATION TO WORKING CONDITIONS, BUT IN RELATION TO POLICY DEVELOPMENT. THE UNIONIST REGIME OF NORTHERN IRELAND, WHILE ENCOURAGED BY THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT TO PURSUE THE RULE OF LAW THROUGH DEMOCRATIC CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLES, PERSISTED IN DEALING WITH CITIZENS IN WAYS THAT VIOLATE DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES. ABUSES INCLUDED INDEFINITE DETENTION WITHOUT TRIAL AND THE USE OF UNAUTHORIZED INTERROGATION TECHNIQUES. EVEN AFTER DIRECT RULE BY THE WESTMINSTER GOVERNMENT THERE HAS CONTINUED TO BE VACILLATION ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES IN POLICE AND PENAL PRACTICES. WHILE THE GOVERNMENT HAS PUBLICLY ASSERTED THAT FAILURE TO OBSERVE DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES HAS BEEN AN IMPORTANT FACTOR IN PRECIPITATING THE VIOLENCE, THE GOVERNMENT IN ATTEMPTING TO DEAL WITH THE VIOLENCE HAS CONTINUED TO DEVIATE FROM THESE PRINCIPLES. (RCB)