Former paramilitaries sitting on new scrutinising bodies could wreck future policing in the North, a police representative warned the British government today.
Representatives of 10,000 officers claimed public support would plunge if paramilitaries were allowed to hold police commanders to account.
Mr Irwin Montgomery, chairman of the Police Federation for Northern Ireland (PFNI), claimed that the 29 new District Policing Partnerships' (DPPs) credibility was on the line.
He said: "We note with disbelief the evident determination of the government to compromise the integrity of the concept by appointing independent members of the DPPs who have a terrorist background."
Outraged unionists claim the new legislation designed to win Sinn Féin backing for the PSNI would be catastrophic.
Although the draft bill does not remove the block on ex-paramilitary prisoners joining DPPs as non-elected independents, Northern Ireland Secretary Mr Paul Murphy has offered seats to ex-paramilitary prisoners if the IRA and loyalist organisations signal a permanent end to violence.
The Rev Ian Paisley, who met Mr Murphy in Belfast today, warned his Democratic Unionist Party would not tolerate former paramilitaries joining the scrutinising bodies.
Republicans claim police reforms have not yet met the standard of the Patten blueprint and that the board's powers are too limited. But the two governments hope the new legislation could trigger a major move by the IRA.
PA