The vice-chairman of the Northern Ireland Policing Board and an independent member of the District Policing Partnership Board in Derry both received three live rifle bullets attached to Mass cards yesterday.
The bullets were contained in large white envelopes which were posted to the Derry homes of Mr Denis Bradley and Ms Marian Quinn on Sunday.
Mr Bradley said he had no comment to make on the incident, but Ms Quinn, a mother of four whose daughter was at the centre of a booby-trap bomb alert last month, described those responsible for posting the bullets to her home as cowards.
The incident was described by PSNI Supt Johnny McCarroll as a "blatant act of intimidation and terrorism".
Ms Quinn said the posting of three bullets to her home both terrified and angered her. "I am afraid for my family and angry at those who did this. I was upstairs with my 12-year-old son Brendan, who is sick, when my daughter Helena called up to me to come down. She had become suspicious of the envelope. My husband Robert slowly cut it open and we could see the three bullets attached to the Mass card."
Ms Quinn said that two weeks ago, a metal lunch box was attached to the underside of her daughter's car. It was spotted when she arrived for work in Mr John Hume's constituency office.
"The police have told me that they believed so-called dissident republicans were responsible for both acts of intimidation against both me and my family," Ms Quinn said. "These people have already described me and other members of the District Policing Partnership Board as legitimate targets, whatever that means."
She would be discussing her membership of the board with her family, but for now they were 100 per cent behind her. Ms Quinn continued: "If the mindless thugs who did this believe they have targeted the weakest link on the partnership board, well, they've got the wrong person."
Supt McCarroll said the bullets would be forensically examined.
"This is just another act of thuggery against members of the community who are involved with the Policing Board and it is a campaign which is being carried out by dissident republicans.
"It is a blatant attempt to harass, intimidate and terrorise these families and members of the district partnership. It's incredible to think that during last Saturday's relatively quiet Apprentice Boys parade, other people in this city were plotting and planning acts of terrorism of this nature."