The Police Service of Northern Ireland is a police force that covers Northern Ireland. It is the successor to the Royal Ulster Constabulary, created on Sunday, November 4 2001, as a result of a Policing Review set up under the Belfast Agreement. This agreement, which helped to end the Irish Republican Army's three-decade-long violent campaign against the Union of Northern Ireland and Great Britain, required the creation of an Independent Commission on Policing for Northern Ireland, which became known as the Patten Commission after its chairman, Chris Patten.
Among the features of the PSNI are a policy of recruiting equal numbers of Protestants and Catholics, and the name and symbols of the organisation, which are designed not to alienate either community. The badge features the saltire of St Patrick, and six symbols representing different and shared traditions: a crown, a harp, a shamrock, scales of justice, a torch and a laurel leaf. It is supervised by the Northern Ireland Policing Board.