The "shotgun approach" to reform of policing does not work, according to the assistant commissioner of the South African Police Service, Ms Zelda Holtzman.
At a weekend conference organised by the Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ) in Belfast, she outlined her country's experience of attempting to transform a police service that was "inherently corrupt and bad".
"In mid-1994, just after the elections, we were so naive. We wanted to change the police, change everything and do it all at once. We adopted what we would now call a shotgun approach," she said at Saturday's session.
The initial approach was ineffective and was subsequently altered to focus on three central issues for transformation: the adoption of affirmative action procedures for recruitment, the establishment of a professional workforce and the provision of an equitable service.
Before reform of the service, 74 per cent of police stations were located in areas inhabited by whites or in areas where businesses owned by whites were located. The stations in black areas were "ill-equipped, understaffed and under-resourced". A more equitable balance had now been achieved, she said.
However, the "Irish coffee syndrome" still existed within the ranks of the police, with white officers dominating the more senior ranks and black officers in the lower ranks.
Ms Holtzman told the conference of some mistakes that had been made by the force in its efforts to change. The force had "backtracked" on initial attempts to demilitarise its approach to policing. For a short period it became optional for an officer to wear a cap, but this was made compulsory again when it led to indiscipline in the force.
The uniform, the force emblem and ranking structure had all changed to reflect the transformed service, she said.
A former political activist, Ms Holtzman added that she had been "extremely disappointed" that police officers had not come forward "on their own accord" to give evidence at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. According to the chairman of CAJ, Mr Kieran McEvoy, the conference was a continuation of a process of dialogue on human rights and policing.
"You can't actually transpose experiences from other countries, but we are saying what are the themes that we can pull out from this that are useful to the Northern Ireland experience," he said.