The image of leading figures from the five main Stormont parties standing shoulder to shoulder with chief constable Simon Byrne at PSNI headquarters yesterday was a powerful and compelling one.
It sent out an unmistakable message over the revulsion felt by all right-thinking people over the appalling attack on Detective Chief Inspector John Caldwell and the determination across the board to ensure full support for our police service.
Mr Caldwell remains in a critical condition in hospital after he was so cruelly targeted in front of his young son and many other children during coaching sessions at a Co Tyrone sports centre on Wednesday night.
The prayers of people from all sections of our divided society will be with Mr Caldwell and his family, as well as the fervent hope that he can make a recovery from the grave injuries sustained when he was repeatedly shot from close range.
While the perfect police service does not exist anywhere in the world, the PSNI has been at the centre of many heartening developments since it was launched in 2001.
Significant advances have been made on a range of fronts, and it is strongly positive that police officers have been able to live in most areas without being restricted to a relatively small number of locations.
The safety of individual officers and their families must always be paramount during the review which will inevitably follow the Omagh outrage, and any new arrangements will have to be given the most careful possible consideration.
It would be particularly regrettable if the voluntary involvement of off-duty officers in sporting and community-based activities had also to be even temporarily restricted, but security issues are always surrounded by tough choices.
There will be further concern that the PSNI is facing a funding shortfall of £80m, with the result that some 400 posts are due to be lost in the coming months and the service will be 800 officers below the minimum level set out in the New Decade New Approach agreement only three years ago.
Policing, together with health and education, is plainly in urgent need of additional budgetary backing from the authorities.
It can only be a matter for major regret that our Stormont parties were able to come together yesterday but remain unable to use their shared influence to secure the financial resources which are so urgently required during a crucial period.
