British troops were deployed in Northern Ireland from 1969 to 2007. The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was an armed force that took a military approach to counter-terrorism, had been drawn into pro-unionist sectarianism, colluded with loyalist groups, and committed police brutality, including beatings of suspects. Real and perceived human rights violations by security forces—including internment without trial, special courts for political offences, the use of plastic bullets by riot police, and alleged shoot-to-kill policy—further sapped the state's legitimacy for nationalists. In many neighbourhoods, the RUC was so focused on terrorism that it neglected ordinary policing, regular patrols, and non-political crime. Both nationalist and unionist communities complained that the RUC did not respond quickly enough to calls relating to petty crime, and that suspects were pressured to inform on paramilitaries. Since the replacement of the RUC with the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) in 2001, trust has improved, with more than 70% in both communities having a positive assessment of the PSNI's performance in 2018. However, in many republican neighbourhoods identity has been shaped by distrust of the authorities, with one republican neighbourhood in West Belfast reporting only 35% trust in the police. Since the disbanding of the RUC, trust is decreasing in some loyalist communities.