Sinn Fein's new official role in policing is another sign of the party's intention to back the PSNI, according to the former vice-chairman of North's policing board, Denis Bradley.
Mr Bradley described the party's decision to embrace new partnerships in the Republic as "significant." Sinn Féin has confirmed that 17 of its elected representatives have taken seats in embryonic joint policing committees throughout the country.
Mr Bradley said Sinn Féin's new role working alongside the Garda Síochana was another step towards the party signing up to the PSNI.
"I think Sinn Fein are now finding their way and leading their followers into recognition of the policing realities," said Mr Bradley .
"But also I think they are being led by their own people. The fact of the matter is, in both the North and the South, in all areas, people want decent policing.
"It is becoming so important in a modern society where the Church, education and politics have lost some of their authority. People long for some good and decency and policing plays a part in that," he said.
The former Catholic priest, who was last year bludgeoned by a baseball bat while watching a football match in an attack blamed on dissident republicans, has been targeted several times for his key role in policing.
"(Sinn Fein Leader) Gerry Adams said the other day that we are moving through this process inch by inch. This is another inch," he said.
In a statement released yesterday, Dublin Sinn Fein councillor Larry O'Toole, who was appointed vice-chair of the capital city's policing partnership, reaffirmed the party's commitment to the new structures.
"While we had hoped, and proposed in Leinster House, they would be more genuinely participative, we are committed to making them work for the people we represent," he said.
"The policing committees could have a valuable role to play in building better working relationships between communities across the state and the Gardai.
"If they are allowed to function in a real and meaningful way, with every effort made to maximise participation by local people through public meetings and surveys, they could allow for a direct input into policing priorities in local areas."
The Dublin North East councillor has rallied against gangland crime after surviving a gun attack during a First Communion ceremony at a church in the city in 1998.