Police Service of Northern Ireland

The Police Service of Northern Ireland is the police service that covers Northern Ireland. It is the successor to the Royal Ulster Constabulary a controversial police force which, in turn, was the successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary.The RUC was renamed on 4 November 2001 as a result of a Policing Review set up under the Belfast Agreement. This agreement required the creation of an Independent Commission on Policing for Northern Ireland, which became known as the Patten Commission after its chairman, Chris Patten. He originally proposed the name Northern Ireland Police Service; however the abbreviation NIPS was thought inappropriate for a variety of reasons. The final decision included in the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2000 was to rename the force to Police Service of Northern Ireland (incorporating the Royal Ulster Constabulary GC), to be shortened to the Police Service of Northern Ireland for operational purposes.
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