Policing in Northern Ireland has been a contentious issue for some time. As part of the Belfast Agreement (known as the Good Friday Agreement), an independent commission was established under former Hong Kong Governor, Chris Patten to look at all areas of policing and to make recommendations for change. The Commission published its Report entitled 'Report of the Independent Commission on Policing for Northern Ireland'.
Following recommendations from the report, the Policing Board was established on 4th November 2001.
The Board takes its powers from the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2000 and has 19 members in total, including a Chairman and a Vice Chairman.
After suspension of the Assembly in October 2002, Members of the first Board were reappointed as Independents by the Secretary of State to enable it to continue its work. This term of office was completed on 31st March 2006. The Policing Board was reconstituted on 1st April 2006 and again on 22 May 2007.
For more details on the work the Policing Board did in its first five years, please view our publication “The Life and Times of the First Northern Ireland Policing Board”.