The Independent Commission for Policing in Northern Ireland was established by the Good Friday Agreement and headed by Chris Patten, a British politician and former governor of Hong Kong. Patten’s report, handed down in September 1999, made 175 recommendations on future policing in Northern Ireland. These recommendations included:

“1. There should be a comprehensive programme of action to focus policing in Northern Ireland on a human rights-based approach.

2. There should be a new oath, taken individually by all new and existing police officers, expressing an explicit commitment to upholding human rights…

4. All police officers, and police civilians, should be trained (and updated as required) in the fundamental principles and standards of human rights and the practical implications for policing. The human rights dimension should be integrated into every module of police training…

8. An entirely new Policing Board should be created, to replace the present Police Authority…

16. The Policing Board should have 19 members, 10 of whom should be Assembly members drawn from the parties that comprise the new Northern Ireland Executive, selected on the d’Hondt system, who should not at the same time hold ministerial office in the Executive…

17. The nine independent members of the Board should be selected from a range of different fields – including business, trade unions, voluntary organisations, community groups and the legal profession – with the aim of finding a group of individuals representative of the community as a whole…

44. Policing with the community should be the core function of the police service and the core function of every police station…

46. Members of the policing team should serve at least three and preferably five years in the same neighbourhood. They should wear their names clearly displayed on their uniforms, and their uniforms should also bear the name of the locality for which they are responsible…

52. Police stations built from now on should have, so far as possible, the appearance of ordinary buildings; they should have low perimeter walls, and be clearly visible from the street; but they should have security features, which may be activated or reinforced as necessary…

55. Police cars should continue to be substituted as patrol vehicles in place of armoured Landrovers, and the use of armoured Landrovers should be limited to threatening situations…

58. The role of the army should continue to be reduced, as quickly as the security situation will allow, so that the police can patrol all parts of Northern Ireland without military support…

112. Every effort should be made to ensure that the composition of the staff… should be broadly reflective of the population of Northern Ireland as a whole, particularly in terms of political or religious tradition and gender.

113. All community leaders, including political party leaders and local councillors, bishops and priests, school teachers and sports authorities, should take steps to remove all discouragements to members of their communities applying to join the police…

114. The Gaelic Athletic Association should repeal its rule 21, which prohibits members of the police in Northern Ireland from being members of the Association…

115. Liaison should be established between all schools and universities and the police service in Northern Ireland immediately, and work experience attachments and familiarisation days should be organised with active support and encouragement from community leaders and teachers…

118. The recruitment agency should advertise imaginatively and persistently, particularly in places likely to reach groups who are under-represented in the police…

150. While the Royal Ulster Constabulary should not be disbanded, it should henceforth be named the Northern Ireland Police Service.

151. The Northern Ireland Police Service should adopt a new badge and symbols which are entirely free from any association with either the British or Irish states.

152. The Union flag should no longer be flown from police buildings…”