The chairman of the Independent Commission on Policing, Mr Chris Patten, has said it is seriously considering arguments that the Northern Ireland Assembly should have responsibility for policing.
Mr Patten said the commission had not yet made up its mind on the matter but was "thinking about it very hard". He added that some observers believed that local politicians would act responsibly if they were given new responsibilities.
The former Hong Kong governor was addressing schoolchildren from all over the North who had gathered for a conference on policing at Methodist College in south Belfast.
He said it was important for the commission to listen to young people's views. The body was not following any political agenda and he could not say whether its recommendations would be radical or conservative. Its aim was to have a police force which would secure the support of everyone in Northern Ireland. He acknowledged that he was not universally popular in the North and he recalled meeting the DUP leader, the Rev Ian Paisley, on his first visit to Belfast. "I met Dr Paisley on the plane and he roared a welcome at me. He said, `Goodbye Hong Kong, hello dingdong!' "
Alliance and the Workers' Party yesterday made submissions to the commission. Alliance proposes a new name and uniform for the RUC. It wants the force to be called the Northern Ireland Police Service. It also says a NorthSouth intelligence unit to tackle serious crime should be considered.
Alliance's justice spokesman, Mr Steve McBride, said the RUC would form the basis of any new policing structures which may emerge.
In its submission, the Workers' Party said that neither a nationalist nor unionist agenda would solve the problems of policing in the North. The party's chairman, Mr John Lowry, said the police should move away from its "militaristic make-up" and he proposed the establishment of a "civic police service".