Border Of Conflict

“There Were Bad Times and There Were Rough Times.” Policing on the Border of Conflict

Vicky Conway, from the University of Kent, made a contribution to the 2012 Annual Conference of the European Society of Criminology, in the category “Crime and Society,” under the title ““There Were Bad Times and There Were Rough Times.” Policing on the Border of Conflict”. Here is the abstract: This paper considers the impact for policing in states which border conflicts, drawing on the island of Ireland. Ellison and Smyth, Mulcahy and Brewer have all done research considering the impact of the Northern Irish ‘Trouble’s on policing in the North, including the lived experiences of members of the RUC. Little work however has been done examining whether and to what extent it affected policing in the Republic of Ireland. Drawing on 42 interviews with retired Irish police officers, 8 of whom spent their career working on the Ireland-Northern Ireland border, this paper will present evidence of the dangers and challenges faced by Irish police officers. Bombings, shootings, riots, death, subversive crime and checkpoint duty all became regular features of life. It will show that the conflict fundamentally altered the nature of policing in the Republic and raise questions about the experiences of states bordering conflicts more generally.[rtbs name=”criminology”]

Resources

See Also

Further Reading

• ““There Were Bad Times and There Were Rough Times.” Policing on the Border of Conflict”, by Vicky Conway (Proceedings)