Northern Ireland police ombudsman Mrs Nuala O'Loan today defended using resources to investigate incidents where officers under sustained attack discharge a small number of plastic bullets.
She was speaking at the release of a report into rioting at last year's Drumcree parade, in which police fired three rounds while facing a barrage of missiles from loyalist rioters.
Mrs O'Loan said it was her statutory duty to investigate all incidents referred to her by the chief constable.
"There is a huge concern about the use of baton rounds. I think it is because of that that Ronnie Flanagan asked us to investigate every time and the current chief constable continues that case," she said.
The Ombudsman's Office has sought more money to investigate high profile complaints of alleged police misconduct, but Mrs O'Loan insisted that inquiries into the use of plastic baton rounds were of vital importance.
"It's in the interests of the public because it is the use of potentially lethal force. It's in the interests of the police because it allows them to examine the situation and determine the appropriateness of its application," she said.
In her report, Mrs O'Loan found that officers had been right to use the weapons as they had faced a "serious and immediate risk to life".
She paid tribute to the restraint showed by the police.
"The evidence clearly demonstrates the life threatening and ferocious attack to which they were subjected, resulting in many serious injuries including broken bones, ligament damage and facial injuries."
Nineteen arrests were made as an angry loyalist mob stormed police lines at Drumcree in a bid to force an Orange march down the nationalist Garvaghy Road last July.
PA