The Policing Board is an independent public body whose job it is to oversee policing in Northern Ireland and to secure for all the people of Northern Ireland an effective, efficient and impartial police service which will secure the confidence of the whole community.  There are 19 Members of the Policing Board.

During the negotiations that resulted in the Belfast Agreement of 1998, participants recognised that policing was an important and central issue for any society.

The Agreement led to the creation of the Independent Commission on Policing, also known as the Patten Commission after its chairman, Chris Patten.  The Independent Commission was tasked with making recommendations on future policing arrangements which included encouraging widespread community support.

The Commission's proposal for a new structure of accountability was designed to ensure effective and democratically based oversight of policing and the creation of a close partnership between police and local communities.  In November 2000 Parliament passed the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2000, which was based on the Independent Commission's recommendations (the Government’s second revised implementation plan, amending legislation – Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2003 - was passed in April of 2003).

Central to the creation of a new structure of accountability and democratically based oversight was the establishment of the Northern Ireland Policing Board, which would have a clear statutory primary function to hold the Chief Constable and police service publicly to account.

The Policing Board came into being on 4 November 2001, the same day as the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).

The Policing Board was reconstituted on April 1 2006.  Political representatives were nominated by their parties and seats were allocated according to the results of the November 2003 Assembly Election.  DUP obtained four seats, the UUP two, the SDLP two and Sinn Fein two. Sinn Fein, however, did not take up their seats which were reallocated to Independents.  This resulted in eight seats being allocated to Political Members and 11 to Independents.  As the Northern Ireland Assembly was suspended, all Policing Board Members were appointed by the Secretary of State, Peter Hain MP.  This is a change from the previous Board which was made up of 10 Political Members apponted by the Assembly and 9 Independent Members appointed by the Secretary of State.  The Board elects its own Chairman and Vice-Chairman.

It is the Policing Board’s job to ensure that there is an effective and efficient police service for Northern Ireland and to make sure that the Chief Constable and PSNI are accountable in carrying out their responsibilities and serving the community.

The Policing Board sets the strategic direction for policing in Northern Ireland and holds the Chief Constable to account for all his actions and those of his staff for the policing service delivered.

This means that the Chief Constable must answer to us on any aspect of policing in Northern Ireland.  However, we cannot, and do not, direct or control the Chief Constable.  The delivery of local policing services is the job of the Chief Constable and the police service.  He still has the right to take independent decisions based only on the need to uphold law and order.

We have a number of statutory duties and responsibilities. Principal amongst these are to:

It may also help you to know that the Office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, which is entirely separate and independent of both the Policing Board and Police Service, has responsibility for investigating complaints made by members of the public against police officers below the rank of Assistant Chief Constable.