Northern Ireland Policing Board

The Northern Ireland Policing Board (NIPB) is the group that holds the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) to public account. The NIPB began its functions when the name of the former Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was changed to the PSNI on 4 November 2001. The NIPB replaced the former Police Authority. The establishment of the NIPB was one of the recommendations of the report of the Patten Commission on the future of policing which was published on 9 September 1999. The NIBP is made up of nine independent members and 10 nominated by political parties. The nine independent members were announced on 29 September 2001 as: Desmond Rea (Prof.) chairman, Denis Bradley vice-chairman, Viscount Brookeborough, Brian Dougherty, Barry Gilligan, Tom Kelly, Pauline McCabe, Rosaleen Moore, and Suneil Sharma. The first official meeting of the NIPB took place on 7 November 2001. See also: List of publications