The RUC Chief Constable, Sir Ronnie Flanagan, has said that the RUC is not being dragged into accepting changes to policing in the North, but is keen to embrace them. Sir Ronnie, who was addressing a human rights conference of Commonwealth lawyers in Belfast yesterday, also welcomed the establishment of the Human Rights Commission.
The Chief Constable insisted that while his force had made mistakes during the Troubles, these had to be viewed against the extensive campaign of violence waged by paramilitary groups.
The number of people killed during the conflict in the North was the equivalent, population-wise, to 100,000 dead in Britain with the proportional equivalent of 1.25 million seriously injured, one million shooting incidents and 500,000 bombings.
Sir Ronnie said that at the start of the Troubles the RUC was an unarmed force with unfortified police stations. A campaign of violence by paramilitary groups meant that "barriers" had been erected between the RUC and the community and he regretted this.