The threat posed by both loyalist and republican paramilitaries remains "very real", placing considerable demands on the police to protect the community, according to the acting PSNI Chief Constable.
Presenting the first annual report of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, Mr Colin Cramphorn said the threat was reflected in a rise in shootings and bombings in the past year. Some 315 people were charged with paramilitary and serious public disorder offences during the year.
Seventeen people died as a result of civil unrest incidents.
The "unprecedented" levels of street violence, particularly in north and east Belfast, had not only tarnished Northern Ireland's image around the world but had also placed a huge strain on police resources, diverting officers from fighting ordinary crime, Mr Cramphorn added. "Inevitably, reducing police numbers and the diversion of scarce resources towards riots and public order situations has impacted on all aspects of policing, including crime.
"The violence put a severe strain on finite police resources. With large numbers of officers tied up in public order duties, local commanders had to make some very difficult decisions on how to best meet everyday policing demands."
The acting Chief Constable insisted that the Provisional IRA remained his main line of inquiry into the break-in at Belfast's Special Branch headquarters at Castlereagh last March.
He dismissed suggestions police had reverted to believing the incident had been an "inside job".
An interim report by Sir John Chilcott on the break-in is due within the next few days.
According to yesterday's report, the level of recorded crime, at 139,786 offences, rose by 16.6 per cent from the previous year, while the clearance rate fell by 7 per cent to only just over 20 per cent of crimes solved.
Part of the apparent increase in offences was, however, due to a new system of recording crime, Mr Cramphorn explained.
As to so-called paramilitary-style punishment attacks, their number dropped to 302 from 323 the previous year, with 60 per cent of them incidents in which victims were shot.
The number of such attacks was "unacceptably high", the acting Chief Constable added.
Responding to the report, the chairman of the Policing Board, Prof Desmond Rea, pledged the board would swiftly address issues relating to human and financial resources.
"The drain on police resources in dealing with the security and public order situation is of serious concern to the board," he added.
The North's First Minister and Deputy First Minister have appointed two independent arbitrators to attempt to find agreement over plans to build a new peace wall in north Belfast.
Both sides on the Ardoyne Road have so far been unable to agree measures over a road realignment near the Holy Cross primary school. The arbitrators are conflict consultants Ms Sue Williams and Mr Steve Williams.