RUC to be split into local units

The units will take effect from April 1 and will mirror the district council boundaries.

Belfast will have four DCUs with the remainder spread out across the province.

The neighbourhood scheme will allow for decision making to be devolved to local levels and for police resources, personnel and budgets to be organised according to the specific needs of an area.

Chief Constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan said the evolution towards real community-style policing was "a positive development for the people of Northern Ireland and a progressive move that would enable police officers to work more directly with the communities they serve".

The changes, introduced in line with the Patten Report on policing, were exciting and "a first step in a sequence of change that shifts the focus of policing towards more direct and effective involvement with the community", he said.

Each District Command Unit will be under the control of a Chief Superintendent or Superintendent.

Chief Superintendent Brian McCargo, who has the difficult task of trying to make the police acceptable in the republican heartland of west Belfast, challenged Sinn Fein to support them.

He said there would be no acceptance of vigilante action, adding: "There can't be an alternative police service."