A former RUC chief constable, Sir John Hermon, voiced strong support for the force he once commanded at a hearing of the Patten Commission yesterday.
He was among over 500 people from the North Down constituency of the UK Unionist leader, Mr Robert McCartney, at a leisure centre in Bangor, Co Down.
The former chief constable spoke up near the end of the two-hour meeting to urge the commission to be cautious about any plan to change the force.
It was up to the politicians, he said, to decide what sort of police officers the people of the North needed and what sort of officers they wanted.
Earlier he listened intently as many people with past or present connections with the RUC spoke up passionately in defence of the force.
One woman compared her pride at the service her husband of 30 years had given to a "dedicated police force" with her family's constant fear of living under a terrorist threat.
Mr McCartney was applauded when he warned of the dangers of reducing police numbers or morale within the force.
"The RUC must not have its effectiveness, in terms of operation, numbers or morale altered by any reform, " he added, "until it is safe to do so, when full effective decommissioning has been obtained."