IN his annual report on Thursday, Sir Hugh Annesley offered little or nothing to console those sections of the community which have been calling for reform of the RUC.
His scanty treatment of an issue which is of deep concern to a wide span of Northern political opinion - not just Sinn Fein but also the SDLP, Alliance and community workers on both sides of the divide - is in keeping with his consistent rejection of the case for structural reform.
Last year, he made his position plain when he commented: "I do not start from a point of view that there is something inherently wrong with the RUC and it needs to be changed. I do not accept that we have an organisation that is wrong and must be fixed".
In this latest report he conceded nothing, moreover, to the charges in recent years by the Police Authority, the British Inspectorate of Constabulary and others that there have been shortfalls in ensuring the accountability and responsiveness of the RUC to the concerns of the community.
Sir Hugh's foreword statement admitted that "normal policing" has to be a two way contract, "a partnership between the RUC and the public". But his few brief comments on the matter conveyed the impression that the partnership is being nurtured successfully.
His general observation on these issues was simply that: "The RUC remains fully committed to participating in the debate on the future policing needs of Northern Ireland; a debate that must be informed and balanced, avoiding rancour or recrimination. We need a vision for the future, calmly and constructively reasoned and explained. That is what the RUC, in association with others of goodwill, is working towards".
Although the chief constable's principal critics on the Police Authority recently lost an internal battle and were removed by the Northern Secretary, there are still hints that the authority does not totally share Sir Hugh's rosy view of the situation.
In a statement yesterday, the authority's chairman, Mr Pat Armstrong, said: "While we give a broad welcome to this report, we remain convinced that more information still needs to be provided to help the authority and the community judge how well the RUC is performing against its stated objectives."
Contrary to claims that the police service has been reluctant to address the need for radical change to make it acceptable to the nationalist community, the chief constable asked that the dramatic decline in terrorist crime as a result of the ceasefires "enabled the RUC to make remarkable progress in addressing its future role".
He pointed to the fact that: "At the highest level, a fundamental review of policing was launched involving all levels of the police service, the Police Authority and the Northern Ireland Office".
Sir Hugh's report gave more detail than usual on the incidence of complaints against the police. A total of 4,264 complaints were made by 2,943 different complainants, and about 2,000 involved a complaint of assault.
Of 5,029 complaints completed (dealt with) during the year, 73 were found to be substantiated.
The statistics on complaints, however, cannot be regarded as providing a total picture of public grievances against the RUC, as considerable sections of the nationalist community refuse to avail of, or co operate with, the complaints procedure, which involves the RUC itself investigating complaints, albeit under the supervision of the Independent Commission for Police Complaints.
One small section of the report illustrated that the culture of the gun in Northern Ireland is not confined to illegally held weapons. At December 31st last, there were 88,170 firearms certificates on issue, authorising a total, of 134,027 firearms an overall increase of 1.29 per cent in the number of legally held firearms in circulation.
There are 152 registered firearms dealers in the North, along with 41 authorised firearms clubs and 42 certified firing ranges.
The cost of running the RUC and its support services continues to grow. It totalled £601.1 million sterling last year, a marginal increase of £700,000.