The Police Federation for Northern Ireland has urged the British government against any hasty dismantling of the security apparatus as a response to the renewal of the IRA ceasefire.
The editorial of this month's Police Beat, the federation's magazine, says progress on the political front must be encouraged, and accepts that without such progress, "frustration will lead to a return to violence, if not by the main players, then certainly by their wilder, fringe co-travellers".
It says that because of the failure of some of these groups to acknowledge the ceasefire, "the federation would urge government and our authorities not to rush into the dismantling of our operational thrust".
Positive measures towards peace should be seen before security capability can be reduced, and even then, "any stepdown must be easily reversible", it says.
In a note suggesting less than full faith in the IRA ceasefire, the federation says: "We have been here before, only to find that terrorists simply used the time to retrain and regroup."
The importance of the parades issue is also highlighted, which according to the Police federation "is becoming the annual battle ground between the two communities".