Young Catholics continue to be "openly discouraged or intimidated" away from joining or remaining with the PSNI, the police oversight commissioner reports today.
In his latest periodic assessment of the implementation of the Patten proposals on policing, Al Hutchinson writes that the threat of violence against Catholic recruits and political opposition to the police remains.
"Intimidation and fear of attack on themselves and relatives continue to be given as the main reasons by young Catholics for not joining the Police Service," the report claims.
Today's report, the 13th on progress in policing reforms since the oversight process began in 2001, contains pointed references to the absence of widespread political support for the new policing arrangements.
Mr Hutchinson writes that the objectives envisaged by Patten, including a police service capable of attracting and sustaining support from the community it serves, will continue to be frustrated by the lack of a political resolution in the North.
"Another critical factor impeding further progress relates to the lack of full community support for the new policing structures," he says.
"This meant police participating with the community and responding in positive and constructive ways to its needs, with the community reciprocating not only by supporting the police, but by becoming legitimately involved in its own policing."
In keeping with previous reports which refer to police acceptability, no political party is singled out for criticism. However, Mr Hutchinson uses some of the strongest terms yet used in an oversight report to stress the vital need for widespread political endorsement and for all parties to play a full role on the Policing Board and on the local District Policing Partnerships.
"The irony, of course, is that a lack of sincere participation in, and full acceptance of, the democratic policing institutions now in place across the whole community, will simply continue the cycle of victimisation and instability to the ultimate detriment of all communities."
Mr Hutchinson praises political leaders, churches, and sporting and cultural organisations such as the GAA for their endorsement of the PSNI.
The report finds it "significant and encouraging that the institution of policing itself is no longer seen as the primary discouragement and there is no clearer indication of this than the over 15,000 applications that have been received from Catholic men and women since the new recruitment programme was launched".
Despite the problems associated with political endorsement, Mr Hutchinson strives to accentuate what has been achieved.
"What this 13th oversight report clearly demonstrates is that some six years after the release of the Independent Commission's recommendations [the Patten report], the primary institutions of policing - the Police Service, the Policing Board and the Ombudsman - have largely accomplished or are well on the way to accomplishing the recommendations' full intent."