The SPG in London was disbanded in January 1987 and the same fate befell the RUC Special Patrol Group.

[5] Following the return of primacy to the police the Special Support Unit (SSU) which was trained by the SAS was formed to perform an anti terrorist role.like its army counterpart before it, it did not enjoy any notable success at first however, their activity and infiltration of the provisional IRA undermined their operations to such an extent that it would eventually lead to a ceasefire.

Two SPG members, John Weir and Billy McCaughey were arrested in 1979 and confessed to paramilitary activities.

An independent inquiry in 2006 found that in 7 out of 8 cases, ballistics tests corroborated his claims, linking the killings to weapons carried by RUC officers.

[6] The Barron report found that a group of loyalist paramilitaries, RUC officers, and British military personnel operating out of a farm in Glenanne was responsible for up to 31 killings.

[8][9] According to Toby Harnden, "the years when McCaughey and the RUC Special Patrol Group were at large represented the only period when loyalist paramilitaries made forays deep into South Armagh, a republican stronghold".