The Patten report is the policing bible for PSNI Chief Constable Mr Hugh Orde and he is not going to depart from scripture, writes Dan Keenan.
Hugh Orde always portrays himself as a copper first and last. Politics, he often says, is best left to politicians. His announcement concerning the future of the full-time police reserve illustrates that his political acumen is remarkably sharp for a man who publicly eschews politics.
On the surface, Mr Orde has angered Sinn Féin, the Alliance Party, the Ulster Unionists and the DUP. He has alienated the Police Federation on the eve of their conference and the Superintendents Association.
Only the SDLP is prepared to call yesterday "a good day for policing", while the Northern Ireland Office appeared grateful not to be in the heat of the kitchen.
Mr Ian Pearson, a junior minister, wanted to "pay tribute to both serving and former members of the full-time reserve for their sustained commitment and contribution to policing".
What Mr Orde effectively did was hold fast to his interpretation of Patten and insist that the commission's call for a chief constable to police 1.5 million citizens with 7,500 officers was sufficient. Therefore the ranks of reservists will go, a majority of them before April 2005, and the remainder within three years after that.
They, like other special forces drawn up to counter the paramilitary threat over the years, are being abolished - but this time by instalment. The full-time reserve, like the B Specials and the UDR, are being radically reduced and the remainder are on notice.
For an officer like Mr Orde, Patten is the policing bible containing core truths and he is not going to depart from that.
His political cuteness is evident in his quoting of statistics to support his contention that the full-time reservists will no longer be needed on policing grounds.
Crime is falling and Patten's ratio of officers to citizens is double that of any other police service anywhere in the UK.
What he didn't say was that Patten's ratio is actually closer to that of the New York Police Department. Mr Orde has also restated many times that he is pushing for civilianisation of desk jobs, thus freeing up trained police officers for frontline duties. He maintains there are far too many police operational districts. The cuts will mean fewer local police stations, with fewer officers inside answering the phone and typing reports.
The statistics Mr Orde uses are difficult to argue against, and it is not surprising that his detractors attack him on other grounds.
The Police Federation and the Superintendents Association point up the loss of 54 reservists during the Troubles.
But the terms of the £100 million severance package may soften a few coughs, and the size of the queue of departing reserve officers may tell its own story.
The two governments can say with some force next week at Leeds Castle that Patten is being implemented.