A crowd numbering nearly 1,000 gathered at Belfast's Ulster Hall on Saturday to "save the RUC" and voice opposition to the Patten report recommendations.
Speakers included the former chief constable of the RUC, Sir John Hermon, Ulster Unionist Assembly member Sir John Gorman, the editor of the British conservative Daily Telegraph, Mr Charles Moore, and the director of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Bureau, Mr Vincent McKenna.
Sir John Hermon, who retired as chief constable in 1989, warned against pushing the Patten report's recommendations through the British parliament before the Northern Ireland Assembly was properly in place.
He described the proposed appointment of an eminent figure from outside Britain and Ireland to oversee the reform process of the RUC as "unrealistic and unnecessary". He said there was no point in having a police service that was acceptable to nationalists but could no longer command the support of the unionist majority.
Sir John said it was ironic Mr Patten had intended to take the politics out of policing by proposing a Police Board to replace the old Police Authority which would consist of 10 politicians and nine independent members.
He criticised the report for describing the RUC as "defenders of the State" rather than "upholders of law", claiming the statement would strengthen republican rhetoric which referred to the force as the "armed wing of unionism". Sir John said he was particularly concerned local police boards would have the power to spend up to 3p in the pound on buying services from the private sector. This could lead to paramilitaries setting up private security firms, a potentially "disastrous" development, according to the former chief constable.
Sir John conceded there were "many good points" in the Patten report. But he added: "Now is not the time for making the fundamental changes proposed by Mr Patten - we are simply not far enough for that yet."
Sir John Gorman, an Ulster Unionist Assembly member and Catholic who served as district inspector in the RUC, said there was much in the report that "no reasonable person could disagree with", but that it was "premature" as it presupposed a peace that simply did not exist.
He said it was not the RUC's job to respect traditions - "in fact, some traditions are not worthy of respect". It was, moreover, unlikely republicans would want to join the police, Sir John added.
As to the proposed change in the name and the symbols of the RUC, he said the current badge displaying the crown, harp and shamrock was "indisputably Irish and indisputably British".
Sir John received a standing ovation when he unfurled a picture of the RUC standard, which shows a crown, harp and two shamrocks on a dark-green background, and told the crowd: "This is our flag. This is the one that should be flown from every police station."
The editor of the Daily Tele- graph, Mr Charles Moore, called on people to register their opposition to the Patten recommendations in a dignified but determined fashion. He said people in Britain, "disgusted with concessions to terrorism", would fully support their campaign.
The director of the Human Rights Bureau, Mr Vincent McKenna, called the Patten recommendations "glib and insulting". He said the faith of those who had voted for the Belfast Agreement had been betrayed and called on the SDLP to "get off the fence and join the democrats in remembering the RUC's sacrifices".