The number of shootings and bombings in Northern Ireland has increased significantly in recent years, according to the annual report of the Policing Board.
The chairman of the board, Prof Desmond Rea, who is today publishing the first annual report of his organisation, admitted that the 12 months to March this year had been a period of "highs and lows".
In the period 1998-99 44 people were killed in violence related to the so-called Troubles. This figure included the 29 who died in the Omagh bombing.
The annual death rate to March this year was 17, compared to 18 the previous year, and seven in the year before that.
There has been a marked rise in shootings and bombings. In 1998-99, the year of the Belfast Agreement, there were 187 shooting and 123 bombing incidents, while in the year to March the incidence rose sharply to 358 shooting and 318 bombing incidents.
The new report also illustrates that bombing incidents soared by 80 per cent between 2001-2002 and 2000-2001 while shootings increased by 7 per cent.
The thousands of petrol-bombings, incidents involving incendiaries and hoax alerts are not included in these figures.
There were 302 so-called paramilitary punishment beatings and shootings in the past 12 months, which shows a 7 per cent decrease on the previous year, and compares with 245 such attacks in the year of the agreement.
The report also shows that crime detection rates were disappointing, and none of the police targets were met.
"Detection rates were low, and there was a substantial increase in the number of recorded crimes," according to the report. An overall rate of 31 per cent was the detection target, but only 20 per cent was achieved. The detection rate for violent crime was 44 per cent against a target of 65 per cent.
The board said the impact of policing public disorder in north Belfast over the 12 months affected the ability of police to detect "ordinary" crime.
The amount of people who believe the police are doing a good job has risen slightly. In February 2000 a total of 67 per cent of over 1,000 people polled said they were doing very good or fairly good work. That figure increased to 69 per cent by October last year.
However, the number of people who believe police deal fairly with everyone has declined. In 1999, of 1,250 polled, 77 per cent said police were fair while last year that figure dropped to 72 per cent.
The rate of sickness is also posing problems for the Police Service of Northern Ireland. In the most recent 12-month period each police officer was off 23 days per year, against a target of 16 days. In 1998 each officer took an average of 17 sick days per year.
Prof Rea said that while the board realised that police performance over the past year could have been better, there were "problematic circumstances" in which the PSNI was operating.
"Positive developments such as the creation of a new policing emblem and the graduation of the first PSNI recruits have been somewhat marred by the ongoing terrorist threat and the continued sectarian clashes," he added.
He wanted to see growing public confidence in policing.
"The reality is that the police need to do better, but they will only be able to do that with real input from the communities they service. The District Policing Partnerships offered the opportunity to create a two-way street where the community help the police help the community," he said.
