Former RUC Chief Constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan has been appointed to carry out an assessment of the improvements needed to bring the Iraqi police force up to scratch, it was disclosed today.
British Defence Secretary John Reid said that Sir Ronnie had been asked to deliver a review of the capabilities of the new force in the British controlled sector of southern Iraq.
"Ronnie Flanagan has been sent there to find out first of all what the situation on the ground truly is as objectively as we can," Mr Reid told BBC1's Politics Show.
The move comes amid concerns that the training of the new police force is not progressing as well as the Iraqi army, with fears that the police have been heavily infiltrated by the local militias.
The issue came to a head earlier this year when British troops stormed a police station in Basra following the arrest of two undercover SAS soldiers who the Iraqis refused to release.
Mr Reid acknowledged that there was a problem that needed to be addressed. "There's a problem with the police in terms of split loyalties running from sympathy for the local people, right through to infiltration with the militia.
That's why we are now redoubling our efforts to make sure that these people are rooted out," he said.
"It isn't to say that all the police are like that. Many of them are courageous. Many have given their life in the new Iraq but some of them are rogues, some of them are corrupt and some of them have obviously entered for the wrong reasons and they've obviously got to be taken out".
Sir Ronnie, who has already made one visit to Basra and is planning further trips in the New Year said that progress on policing was now probably a year behind schedule.
"A total concentrated effort needs to be made by all the coalition forces, and indeed the EU, which is happening, to ensure that concentration on policing is provided," he told the programme.
"I know of moves to remove those who are not up to standard, either in terms of their competence or in terms of the level of the integrity they bring to the job. So those things are in hand.
"Yes, they are a problem, but tremendous progress is being made." However, one serving Army officer - speaking anonymously - told the programme that they had already missed the chance to deal with the issue.
He said that he did not know of a single instance of British troops intervening to deal with intimidation by the Iraqi police, in incidents which ranged from "severe beatings to murder".
"I feel deeply ashamed that we let down the Iraqi people so badly. We had a chance - a very brief chance - to make a genuine difference to their lives now and in the future. And we bottled it," he said.
"There was a very strong Shia ethos within the Iraqi police force and that manifested itself in a willingness to impose their moral views on people who were not committing a crime under the law, simply committing a crime under the Iraqi police force's prevailing moral code.
So for example, alcohol sellers, DVD sellers, music sellers were often subject to significant intimidation. And whilst I was there, I cannot recall a single incidence of the British Army trying to stop that."