ABSTRACT
This chapter attempts to separate the rhetoric from reality by focusing upon two crucial aspects of policing in Northern Ireland: the use of lethal force and the discourse of professionalism. When the authorities are forced to confront the existence of police misconduct, it is invariably explained away as the isolated actions of individual officers. This "bad apple" approach was reiterated by the Chief Constable at the recent press conference to launch the Royal Ulster Constabulary Annual Report for 1993. Responding to allegations of collusion between the security forces and the Loyalist paramilitaries Chief Constable had this to say: I am absolutely satisfied that collusion is neither widespread nor institutionalised. From time to time, however, there will be some bad apples in every barrel. Much literature in the sociology of police work assumes a schism between the rank and- file and senior officers within the organisation.
