February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Here are the major reforms to the RUC as laid out by Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Mandelson in his address to the Commons on Wednesday, Jan. 19. Legislation related to the changes will go through the House of Commons this fall. The first recruits for the new police service will graduate in the autumn of 2001.
€ The RUC will be renamed the Police Service of Northern Ireland.
€ The uniform will stay the same, but the badge will change.
€ The force will be cut from 13,500 to approximately 7,500, depending on the security situation.
€ New officers will undergo human rights and sensitivity training.
€ New officers will be required to take a new oath, which makes no mention of the Crown, and all officers will adhere to a new code of ethics, which will focus on human rights.
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€ The full-time reserves will be abolished and the part-time reserves enlarged.
€ Officers who decide to take early retirement will be offered generous severance payments.
€ A new police board will be established to replace the police authority.
€ Recruitment will be 50 percent Protestant and 50 percent Catholic with regular reviews of the force’s composition.
€ District Policy Partnerships will be established to build strong links with the community.
€ The force will be reorganized into district commands based on district councils.
€ CID and the Special Branch sections of the force will be brought under a single assistant chief.
€ No former terrorists will be allowed to join the new police service.