The Police Federation for Northern Ireland has launched a petition to defend the RUC against the recommendations in the Patten report. It hopes to collect up to a million signatures.
Mr Les Rodgers, the chairman of the federation, which represents 13,000 rank-and-file members, said everybody who understood the RUC realised "Patten got it terribly wrong".
"Implementation of the Patten report in its entirety will be a disaster for peace and security throughout these islands. It is not only the loss of the name and symbols which is extremely hurtful and unjustifiable; the report contains other recommendations which are unworkable in the present climate," Mr Rodgers added.
He said the campaign was above party politics and not "orchestrated by unionist politicians with their own agendas".
A member of the Patten commission, Sir John Smith, a former deputy commissioner of the London Metropolitan Police, yesterday warned against signing the petition.
"I would like to think that anybody will think very carefully before they put their name to the petition," Sir John told a conference organised by the Police Authority to discuss the implications of the report for community-police liaison committees in Belfast.