The choice of Mr Hugh Orde emphasises the Policing Board's taste for politically sensitive decisions.
By choosing the English candidate, the youngest of the three names on the shortlist, the eight-member Policing Board sub-committee have shown scant regard for sensitivity in this delicate area.
Mr Orde (43), who yesterday morning was the Deputy Assistant Commissioner with London's Metropolitan police - the largest force in Britain - has been the effective chief officer in charge of the Stevens investigation into the alleged collusion between loyalist paramilitaries and the former RUC dating from the Pat Finucane murder in 1989.
Mr John Stevens, the titular head of the investigation which Mr Orde is leading on a day-to-day basis, is due to deliver his inquiry's final report within about six weeks.
He is now due to lead the force he had been investigating while the former chief constable, Sir Ronnie Flanagan, as a member of Her Majesty's Inspectors of Constabulary has oversight powers over the Met.
Mr Orde has spent some 25 years with the London police and enhanced his reputation at Scotland Yard through his investigative work into a series of racially connected killings.
Soundings among Policing Board members in advance of yesterday's protracted interviews and deliberations indicated some unionist preference for Mr Chris Albiston.
He had until recently been leading the United Nations international police force in Kosovo.
Nationalists had indicated they would be happy with Mr Alan McQuillan, the PSNI assistant chief constable with responsibility for the greater Belfast area, who had the highest public profile of the three.