Police Service of Northern Ireland
The Police Service of Northern Ireland came into existence in November 2001 as a result of recommendations by the Independent Commission on Policing in Northern Ireland.
The task of the Commission, set up as part of the 1998 Belfast Agreement, was to provide ‘a new beginning to policing’ in Northern Ireland. In its report published in 1999, usually referred to as the Patten Report, the Commission made 175 recommendations about policing in Northern Ireland.
Amongst the recommendations were proposals regarding the composition, size and structure of the Police Service. It also recommended the creation of new accountability structures and said that Human Rights and community policing should underline all of the work carried out by the Police Service.
As a result of the recommendations, a new name, badge and uniform came into being. In November 2001 the RUC became the Police Service of Northern Ireland.
The accountability structures including the Policing Board, the Police Ombudsman's Office and the 29 District Policing Partnerships are all in place. Indeed, the majority of recommendations in the Patten Report have been implemented.
Oversight Commissioner Al Hutchinson, who is responsible for overseeing the implementation of the changes in policing, said: “The degree of change already accomplished over a relatively short period is both remarkable and unparalleled in the history of democratic policing reform.”
Kathy O’Toole, a former Patten Commissioner, has said that the Police Service of Northern Ireland is now the most accountable Police Service in the world.
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