There should be a comprehensive programme of action to focus policing in Northern Ireland on a human rights-based approach.
There should be a new oath, taken individually by all new and existing police officers, expressing an explicit commitment to upholding human rights. The text might be as follows:
"I hereby do solemnly and sincerely and truly declare and affirm that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of constable, and that in so doing I will act with fairness, integrity, diligence and impartiality, uphold fundamental human rights and accord equal respect to all individuals and to their traditions and beliefs."
A lawyer with specific expertise in the field of human rights should be appointed to the staff of the police legal services. An entirely new Policing Board should be created, to replace the present Police Authority.
The statutory primary function of the Policing Board should be to hold the Chief Constable and the police service publicly to account.
The Policing Board should set objectives and priorities for policing over a three to five-year period, taking account of any longer-term objectives or principles set by the Secretary of State or successor.
The board would be responsible for negotiating the annual policing budget with the Northern Ireland Office, or with the appropriate successor body after devolution of policing.
The board should have the responsibility for appointing all chief officers and civilian equivalents and for determining the length of their contracts.
The Policing Board should have the power to require the Chief Constable to report on any issue pertaining to the performance of his functions or those of the police service. The obligation to report should extend to explaining operational decisions.
Each District Council should establish a District Policing Partnership Board (DPPB) as a committee of the council, with a majority elected membership, the remaining independent members to be selected by the council with the agreement of the Policing Board.
The District Policing Partnership Board in Belfast should have four subgroups, covering north, south, east and west Belfast.
New legislation on covert policing should be fully compliant with the European Convention on Human Rights and should have the same application in Northern Ireland as in the rest of the United Kingdom.
Policing with the community should be the core function of the police service and the core function of every police station.
Every neighbourhood (or rural area) should have a dedicated policing team with lead responsibility for policing its area.
The role of the [British] army should continue to be reduced, as quickly as the security situation will allow. Provided the threat of terrorism in Northern Ireland diminishes to the point where no additional special powers are necessary to combat it, legislation against terrorism should be the same in Northern Ireland as in the rest of the United Kingdom.
The three holding centres of Castlereagh, Gough Barracks and Strand Road should be closed forthwith.
Officers' identification numbers should be clearly visible on their protective clothing, just as they should be on regular uniforms.
A substantial fund should be set up to help injured police officers, injured retired officers and their families, as well as police widows.
The future police service should not include a full-time reserve. There should be an enlarged part-time reserve of up to 2,500 officers, the additional recruits to come from those areas in which there are currently very few reservists or none at all.
Provided the peace process does not collapse and the security situation does not deteriorate significantly from the situation pertaining at present, the approximate size of the police service over the next 10 years should be 7,500 full-time officers.
The Gaelic Athletic Association should repeal its Rule 21, which prohibits members of the police in Northern Ireland from being members of the association.
All candidates for the police service should continue to be required to reach a specified standard of merit in the selection procedure. An equal number of Protestants and Catholics should be drawn from the pool of qualified candidates.
As Patten said, "We emphatically do not suggest that people with serious criminal or terrorist backgrounds should be considered for police service."
The recruitment agency should seek to identify Northern Ireland Catholic officers in other police services, including the Garda Siochana, contact them and encourage them - particularly those in more senior ranks - to apply for positions in the Northern Ireland police.
While the Royal Ulster Constabulary should not be disbanded, it should henceforth be named the Northern Ireland Police Service.
The Northern Ireland Police Service should adopt a new badge and symbols which are entirely free from any association with either the British or Irish states. The Union flag should no longer be flown from police buildings.