Members of Northern Ireland's new District Policing Boards may face a threat from dissident republican terrorists, the Chief Constable Hugh Orde warned today.
But he pledged to protect the 207 independent representatives on the bodies as they begin working with police commanders in their areas.
He said: "Everyone that gets engaged in policing may take some risk, it depends on where they are and the level of threat in those areas.
"We will do everything we can to look after them." A total of 26 District Policing Partnerships (DPPs) have been set up across Northern Ireland in a bid to strengthen community input in crime-solving strategies.
Mr Orde claimed the authorities were starting work amid heightening fears of further strikes from organisations opposed to the Belfast Agreement.
Dissident republicans have already mounted attacks on Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) officers in an attempt to scare Catholics out of joining the new force.
A bomb was planted under the car of one recruit in Ballymena, Co Antrim last year while another officer was forced to flee his home in Newry, Co Down after intelligence reports indicated a murder bid was imminent.
As DPP representatives met at a major conference in Belfast today to launch the initiative, Mr Orde cautioned that the terrorists may be intent on stepping up their campaign.