Senior police officers retained under the Patten reforms have been accused by a senior Orange Order official of "losing the reason why they joined the RUC".
County Grand Master of Belfast Dawson Bailie said following the change from the RUC to the PSNI, the force had lost the confidence of the loyalist people.
He was speaking at the publication of a report into disturbances at this year's July 12 marches in north Belfast.
The report was complied by the Greater Shankill Community Council (GSCC) and presented yesterday at Farset International Hostel on the Springfield Road.
It criticises the lack of police presence at the Everton Complex on the Crumlin Road or on the Ardoyne Road, which it claims led to an attack on the parade, that could have sparked "a serious outbreak of disorder".
Vice chairman of the GSCC, John MacVicar said the project was "not simply a finger pointing exercise", but designed to identify a way forward for the Protestant population.
However, the report identifies as "the most damning fact", the "admission" by a senior officer that the lack of security presence in the specified areas was "due to a breakdown in communication".
Mr Bailie said the situation highlighted the changes in policing since the implementation of Patten.
"No longer can we address the PSNI as we addressed the RUC," he said.
"When the RUC was there we had a good working relationship with officers, we had come to trust them. They are all career officers who don't have the same interest of Ulster at heart as the old officers who were lost through Patten.
"I'm not talking about the sergeants, I am speaking about senior rank officers.
"I'm talking about the chief inspectors who have suddenly lost the reason why they joined the RUC in the first place," he added.
Mr Bailie said he now warns members to be cautious when dealing with police.
"I would advise anybody going in to meet these people not to go in on your own. A wee cup of coffee and a wee cup of tea and one word slips and you're actually telling a bigger picture than you would want to tell," he said.
"Make sure you have at least one witness with you so we can get our stories right."
Mr Bailie went on to criticise what he described as the unfair police treatment of loyalist parade supporters.
"Women and children had to stand 'til 2.30 in the morning before they got home. Look at how they treated people of Twaddell Avenue and how they treated known terrorists out to wreck our country," he said.
"The prime minister and the Welsh tiger (Secretary of State Paul Murphy) coming on TV and saying it's all about trying to get the confidence of people in the PSNI. What they don't yet realise is that they have lost the confidence of the loyalist people and they have thrown away years and years of hard work with the PSNI."
